|
"You Need Seek No Rocky Summit..."
By Ross Armstrong
2003-2004 Section W-3B Chief
OATC 622 Participant
In the mountains of northern New Mexico, there is place where Scouts enjoy the great out-of-doors amongst valleys, rocky crags, and high peaks. At this place there is a program in which Arrowmen reach a spirit of brotherhood higher than any of the peaks surrounding them. The place is Philmont Scout Ranch; the program is the Order of the Arrow Trail Crew.
I had the great opportunity to participate in this program in June - the same opportunity any arrowmen youth over 16 has. I had been to OA Voyage the year before so I expected time spent in service, new friends, and new adventures. My expectations were met and then surpassed. During the course of the two weeks, I saw six individuals from a struggling lodge inspired to go back home and rejuvenate the lodge with the spirit of the order. I learned great lessons from my foremen and the other participants. I was inspired to come back and serve with a greater passion and purpose than before. A group of 14 individuals who hardly knew each other on day one became brothers by the program's end. Yes, I know more now about Le Grange, Ill., Wiatava, Florida, Boston - the list could go on and on - but what is more important was that I had the opportunity to meet individuals like Tyler, Evan, Andy, Ed, and the rest of the crew. With each mountaintop we climbed and with each day that passed we found inspiration through a greater sense of self and a greater sense of each other.
Many of you have heard of this opportunity; a way to get two weeks at Philmont for cheap, a week of service, and a week of fun. While both these things are true, they are certainly not the whole picture. To describe it in that way would be to say that the Ordeal was about getting a flap or that the Brotherhood honor is just another sash. To relate it to Philmont itself - the price, service, and fun are but mere pebbles on the mountaintop of something greater - OATC.
For more information on the OA Trail Crew program, click here.
|
|
