Yokahu Lodge

Yokahu Lodge

Yokahu Lodge flap
Totem Taíno Three-Point Cemí
Owner Puerto Rico Council
Age range 14–20 (Male youth)
21 and over (Co-ed adults)
Headquarters Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Location All 78 municipalities of Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra
Country Puerto Rico
Founded April 10–15, 1954
(61 years, 8 months and 27 days ago)
Founders Luis Matías Ferrer
Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth
Membership 411 youth
173 adults
584 Total (2015)
Lodge Chief Ricardo Calzada
Lodge Adviser Enrique Calzada
Staff Lodge Adviser Dan Muñoz
Affiliation Order of the Arrow
Boy Scouts of America
Website
yokahu506.org

Yokahu Lodge 506 is the Order of the Arrow Lodge of the Puerto Rico Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Yokahu Lodge is part of Section 5A of the Northeast Region of the Order of the Arrow. The Lodge's totem is the Taíno Three-Point Cemí.[1]

History

Inspired after witnessing an Order of the Arrow Indian ceremony at the 1953 National Scout Jamboree, the desire of the Puerto Rico Council to bring the OA was evident and immediately asked the OA National office for more information about the organization. With the necessary requirements in hand, the council commended the founding of the Order of the Arrow in Puerto Rico to Luis Matías Ferrer in 1954. Having no knowledge of the organization, he sought the help of Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth, who at the time was the only OA member in Puerto Rico. The first Ordeal ceremony took place on April 10–15, 1954 at Guajataka Scout Reservation with Dr. Wadsworth acting as the first Ordealmaster. Because of this role on the first Ordeal ceremony, Wadsworth has been wrongfully recognized as the Yokahu Lodge's main, or sometimes only, founder throughout its history with not enough credit given to Luis Matías Ferrer. After the establishment of the Order of the Arrow in Puerto Rico, the Lodge was named Yukiyú and later Ricardo Alegría proposed to change the name to Yokahu, which both are basically the same variant. In the beginning, the Lodge literally translated the ceremony scripts from the English language and used American Indian attire, but decided later to slightly modify the ceremonies by translating the scripts and using Taíno-inspired attire to reflect the island's heritage. Yokahu Lodge is the only Order of the Arrow Lodge that uses Spanish as its main language.[2][3][4]

Chapters

The Lodge is divided into eight chapters that are organized based on the geographical regions on the island. The chapters, like the Council's districts, are named based on the Taíno name of each of the chapters' base area. The chapters and the cities belonging to each one (denoted in bold) are:

Chapter Cities
Arasibo Arecibo, Barceloneta, Camuy, Ciales, Florida, Hatillo, Lares, Manatí, Morovis, Orocovis, Quebradillas, Utuado, Vega Baja.
Cayniabón Canóvanas, Carolina, Fajardo, Loíza, Luquillo, Río Grande, Trujillo Alto.
Guaitiao Guaynabo, San Juan.
Guaní Aguas Buenas, Aibonito, Caguas, Cayey, Cidra, Comerío, Gurabo.
Guaraka Ceiba, Culebra, Humacao, Juncos, Las Piedras, Maunabo, Naguabo, Patillas, San Lorenzo, Vieques, Yabucoa.
Guarionex Adjuntas, Arroyo, Coamo, Guayama, Guayanilla, Jayuya, Peñuelas, Ponce, Salinas, Santa Isabel, Villalba, Yauco.
Majagua Barranquitas, Bayamón, Cataño, Corozal, Dorado, Naranjito, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Vega Alta.
Yagüeka Aguada, Aguadilla, Añasco, Cabo Rojo, Guánica, Hormigueros, Isabela, Lajas, Las Marías, Maricao, Mayagüez, Moca, Rincón, Sabana Grande, San Germán, San Sebastián.

Headquarters

The Lodge's office headquarters, where sectional and national business are managed, are within the Puerto Rico Council while field headquarters are at Guajataka Scout Reservation, considered as the official home of Yokahu Lodge. Most of the Lodge activities are celebrated in the camp and for years the Order has given service to the facilities. The OA has its own campsite, called "The Cabin", which occupancy has been discontinued due to structural damages, but still remains standing. In the past, the Paquito Joglar campsite area was considered the official gathering place for the Lodge, later becoming a campers area due to the need of space for the many Scouts that attended camp.[5]

Board

Executive

Every new Executive Board of Yokahu Lodge assumes office effective every January 1 until every December 31st. Any youth Arrowmen (until the age of 20) of any level (Ordeal, Brotherhood, Vigil Honor) is eligible to run for a position in the Executive Board. The Executive Board of Yokahu Lodge is composed of:

Position Responsibility
Lodge Chief Highest authority in the Lodge. Oversees the Lodge and its officers and sees that his statutes are met., presides Lodge meetings of the Executive Board, coordinates committees and appoints their chairmen, coordinates the functions of Lodge Officers, serves as Chairman of the Awards Committee and the Vigil Honor Committee, if Vigil. The Lodge Chief also appoints its Voluntary Lodge Adviser for the year, with the approval of the Council Executive, after being elected in the Executive Board elections.
First Vice-Chief Will act as Lodge Chief in the absence of the Lodge Chief or if the latter vacates or leaves the position in any way. Serves as Chairman of the Elections Committee, which is responsible in overseeing that the election of Ordeal candidates for the Lodge take place.
Second Vice-Chief Will act as supervisor of the Ordeal Ceremony Committee, Brotherhood Ceremony Committee Ordeal Ceremony Area Committee, Brotherhood Ceremony Area Committee and Elangomat & Nimat Committee.
Third Vice-Chief Will act as supervisor of the Camp Promotion Committee, Service Committee, Health & Security Committee and the Amendments to Rules Committee.
Lodge Secretary Custodian of the official documents, keeping them up to date. Maintains a record of attendance of the Executive Board meetings and Lodge meeting discussions, is custodian of all correspondence of the Lodge and maintains all records of the Lodge. Will act as supervisor of the Membership Committee and Communications Committee.
Lodge Treasurer Custodian of the financial reports of the Lodge. Properly maintains everything related to budget and finances of the Lodge, including but not limited only to bill payments and collection of other items and information regarding the inventory of merchandise for sale. Prepares a budget for the year, determines costs and makes economic plans with fundraising projects and archives any Lodge accounting documentation received. Will act as supervisor of the Finance Committee.

Committees

Committee chairmen are appointed by an Executive Board member in charge of its supervision. The operational committees are:

Committee Responsibility
Awards Reviews specific qualities met by Chapters and Arrowmen, worthy of being recognized at the end of the year.
Brotherhood Area Cleans, conditions and prepares the Brotherhood Area for the ceremony.
Brotherhood Ceremony Rehearses and conducs the Brotherhood ceremony.
Camp Promotion Coordinates mutual-interest events between the Lodge and Camp Guajataka.
Communications Manages social platforms, emails, creative content and the Lodge bulletin.
Elangomat & Nimat Coordinates and sorts candidates into patrols and assigns advisers for each patrol.
Elections Issues blank ballots to Chapters and sorts filled-out ballots accordingly after they are returned. This committee collaborates with the Lodge Secretary in maintaining a list of registered candidates for Ordeal and Brotherhood ceremonies.
Finance Sells Lodge and OA merchandise at various Lodge and BSA events.
Health and Security Medical and security emergency at Lodge activities. This committee collaborates with the camp's infirmary in activities held at Camp Guajataka.
High Adventure Researches camping areas with the inclusion of high adventure at a low cost and providing recreational activities at Lodge events.
Membership Keeps record of current and new members.
Ordeal Area Cleans, conditions and prepares the Ordeal Area for the ceremony.
Ordeal Ceremony Rehearses and conducts the Ordeal ceremony.
Bylaw Amendments Receives amendments to change any part of the Lodge Bylaws.
Service Coordinates and carries out all service projects activities in both the Ordeal, the Brotherhoods and other Lodge activities.
Vigil Honor Reviews and approves Vigil Honor nominations and conducts the Vigil Honor ceremony.

Activities

Main

There are four main activities in the Lodge's calendar. The Retorno is celebrated on a weekend between March and April; its purpose is to reunite the Lodge's Arrowmen to lay out and distribute the year's activities and the chapters in charge of running each one, it also serves as a chance to meet the new Lodge Executive Board for the year. Halfway through the year, the Lodge celebrates its high adventure activity between August and September, in order to challenge each Arrowmen's outdoor skills. In October, the Lodge celebrates its Guateke (which is from the Taíno language, meaning gathering), a fellowship event in which chapters participate in various competitions such as ceremony, regalia, dialogue, sports, triathlon and trivia; the highlight of the Guateke is the youth nominations for the positions of the Lodge Executive Board during the Fall Assembly. Finally in December, the annual Convention serves as the conclusion of the Lodge's year, similar to a "Court of Honor", in which different recognitions and awards are handed out based on service during the year and the youth elections for the Executive Board are held.

Other activities include the start-of-the-year Lodge Leadership Seminar followed by the First Executive Meeting, both taking place the same day early January, the Second Executive Meeting between March and April, the third and final Executive Meeting between late August and early September and a service project.

Inductions

Inductions are celebrated four times a year, usually once a month from May to August. The induction weekends are called Ordeal/Bros, which began in 1993, since both Ordeal and Brotherhood ceremonies take place at the same time. The Vigil Honor is celebrated as an independent activity from Saturday evening to midday Sunday on the weekend of Thanksgiving, strictly open to Vigil Honor members and candidates.

2008 Section Conclave

The 2008 NE-2A Section Conclave took place at Guajataka Scout Reservation, marking the first time that the Yokahu Lodge hosted such event and the first to be held outside the United States. The event had a record attendance of 500 Arrowmen including the National Chief and Vice-Chief, Northeastern Region Chief and many Section Chiefs. On this Conclave, the Section name changed from NE-2A to NE-5A with the Section losing and acquiring other Lodges.[2][3][4]

2016 Section Conclave

Yokahu will host the NE-5A Section Conclave in 2016 at Guajataka Scout Reservation.

National Leadership Seminar

In 2002, Yokahu Lodge hosted the Order's NLS for the first time with visits from the National Chief and Northeast Region Chief. Yokahu again hosted the NLS for their membership's attendance in October 2014 and included visits from the Northeast Region Chief as well as the National Vice-Chief.

Awards

The Lodge has its own recognitions for distinguished service to the Lodge. The Cemí de Bronce (English: Bronze Cemí) is awarded to youth and the Premio del Alegre Servicio (English: Cheerful Service Award) or the Three W's for short, which consists of three pins with the letter W on each one, is awarded by adults. Like the Vigil Honor, these awards cannot be earned by a set of requirements, but instead are awarded on a specific number of requirements set by a recognitions committee composed of youth Arrowmen. These awards have their own quota and are given during the Convention. Currently the Lodge has only one recipient of the Distinguished Service Award, Dr. Frank H. Wadsworth, awarded in 1965, who is an active participant in Lodge activities.[2][3][4]

The Lodge was recipient of the Journey To Excellence Gold Award for the first time in 2013.

Media

Yokahu Lodge publishes a newsletter called El Cemí, named after its totem, four times each year on March, September, October and December. On January 2012, the Lodge started their Facebook page[6] and Twitter[7] account, integrating the era of social media to their communications, establishing a more efficient interaction with their Arrowmen. On January 2013, they integrated Instagram[8] to their social media. The publication, social platforms and email are all managed by the Chairman of the Communications Committee.

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ Yokahu Lodge Official Website
  2. 1 2 3 Machuca, Luis (2010). La Filosofía del Escutismo y Su Presencia en Puerto Rico 1910-2010 [The Philosophy of Scouting and Its Presence in Puerto Rico 1910-2010] (in Spanish). Puerto Rico: Biblio Services, Inc. ISBN 978-1-59608-886-3. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 La Filosofía Del Escutismo y Presencia en Puerto Rico - Barnes & Noble.com
  4. 1 2 3 La Filosofía Del Escutismo Y Presencia en Puerto Rico - Books.Google.com
  5. ↑ "Guajataka Scout Reservation". Guajataka Scout Reservation. Archived from the original on October 24, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
  6. ↑ Yokahu Lodge 506 on Facebook
  7. ↑ Yokahu Lodge 506 on Twitter
  8. ↑ Yokahu Lodge 506 on Instagram
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