Order of the Arrow

OA Basics
The Order of the Arrow is a recognized official program activity of the Boy Scouts of America, intended to recognize those scouts who best exemplify the scout virtues of cheerful service, camping, and leadership.

Purpose
The purpose of the Order of the Arrow is fourfold:

	To recognize those Scout campers who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives,
	To develop and maintain camping traditions and spirit,
	To promote Scout camping,
	To crystallize the Scout habit of helpfulness into a life purpose of leadership in cheerful service to others.

Join
To be inducted into the Order of the Arrow a Scout must:

	Be at least First Class rank,
	Have at least 15 nights of camping, including a 6-day long-term camp,
	Be elected by his Boy Scout troop or Varsity unit,
	Participate in the "Ordeal" and induction ceremony.

Visit our Lodge's web site:
Octoraro Lodge 22

History
The Order of the Arrow (OA) was founded by Dr. E. Urner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson in 1915 at the Treasure Island Camp of the Philadelphia Council, Boy Scouts of America. He devised a program where troops would choose, at the conclusion of camp, those boys from among their number best exemplifying the traits embodied in the Scout Oath and Law, who would be honored as members of an Indian "lodge", the "Order of the Arrow". Those elected would be acknowledged as having displayed, in the eyes of their fellow scouts, a spirit of unselfish service and brotherhood. These rites make a lasting impression on scouts who have been elected to the "Order of the Arrow". It became an official program experiment in 1922 and was approved as part of the Scouting program in 1934.

In 1948 the OA, recognized as the BSA's national brotherhood of honor campers, became an official part of the national camping program of the Boy Scouts of America.

"The Order is a thing of the spirit rather than of mechanics, organization, operational procedures, and all that go with them are necessary in any large and growing movement, but they are not what counts in the end. The things of spirit are what count:

	Brotherhood - in a day when there is too much hatred at home and abroad.
	Cheerfulness- in a day when the pessimists have the floor and cynics are popular.
	Service - in a day when million are interested in getting or grasping, rather than giving."

National OA Web Site
For more information on the Order of the Arrow, please visit the National web site: http://www.oa-bsa.org/

Scouting's National Honor Society