Order of the Arrow Conclave brings in the best of the West

By Rick Sherman

They are the Boy Scouts who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives. More than 425 Boy Scouts who are members of the Order of the Arrow Brotherhood converged on Price over the weekend for a Western Region Section Conclave that included five lodges in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming.
The Conclave, or convention, was hosted by the local Tavaputs Chapter of the Tu-Cubin-Noonie (“You are my friend” in the Piute Language) Lodge. The Order of the Arrow uses camp traditions and Indian folklore to encourage continued participation in Scouting and camping.
Lodge Advisor Mike Keller said, “We really lobbied to get them to come to Price and the County employees bent over backwards to accommodate us.”
The Order of the Arrow is also known as the National Honor Society of the Boy Scouts of America. The mission is to fulfill its purpose as an integral part of the Boy Scouts of America through positive youth leadership under the guidance of selected capable adults. Members are nominated by their fellow scouts and must garner approval by 50 percent of their troop.
The Arrowmen set up a “teepee village” on the grassy areas near the Event Center and the Senior Citizens Center and enjoyed camping, dutch oven cooking, fishing at the county fishing pond, horseback riding, mountain bike riding, a “Trade-O-Ree,” a pow-wow, and a side trip to the Desert Wave Pool.
Keller observed, “Most of them are taking away a greater sense of community, brotherhood, and service. A lot of what we do in Order of the Arrow is work, work, work- we build an amphitheater, we clean out a park- here they take classes, they fellowship with one another- it’s more just kind of fun.”
The conclave classes range from youth leadership skills and dutch oven cooking to Indian-lore skills such as bead work, quill work, drum making, and bonnet making.
“One of the things we want to do is give to the communities,” Keller emphasized. He said a collection was taken up to support the Carbon County Food Bank and cash donations totaling $671 was collected and presented to County Commissioner Casey Hopes and Price City Council member Layne Miller.
The Arrowmen also tidied up after themselves. Carbon County Recreation Director Frank Ori said, “After such a big event it’s nice to come in and see the chairs and tables stacked and everything cleaned up.” He said many of the adult Order of the Arrow Leaders praised the Carbon County fairgrounds as the nicest facilities they have seen. “It was a great event,” he continued. “We were happy to have them here. I hope they go home and tell their families what a wonderful place Carbon County is.”