- presents -
(as originally presented in "The Servant," the newsletter of Order of the Arrow Allogagan Lodge #83)
Howdy, folks. Matt here, talking to you from the present day. Well, unless you read this the same day I type it, I suppose it would be more accurate to say the past. But the recent past! (For reference, I am typing this on 1 November 2013.) What I am about to present to you are tales from the far more distant past, from the summers of 1996 and 1997.
What I am presenting here are two articles I wrote that are tales of adventures that happened those summers. They were originally presented in "The Servant," the newsletter of our local Order of the Arrow lodge, Allogagan Lodge #83. It may be no coincidence that at the time I was in charge (and basically the sole staff) of "The Servant," so it was easy for me to get whatever I wanted published in it. When I had first taken it over, it was a rather dry and bare bones newsletter, and I always tried to inject a bit more life and enjoyability into it. For example, for some time I included a comic strip in "The Servant," which was drawn by Boy Scouts ½ alumni Mike Quadrozzi. Sadly, I don't have all of these handy. But what I do have handy is these two articles I wrote, which I'd like to share with you now.
Let us set the scene for the first: The time is the summer of 1996. About a year prior to when Boy Scouts ½ would take place. I had taken a journey, along with twelve other members of the lodge, to attend that summer's National Order of the Arrow Conference, also known as NOAC. It was a journey that would haunt those who were a part of it to this day. (Or at least would still haunt my mother, when I reminded her earlier today of the mode of transportation we had used for this trip...) I'll be back with some more context after the article. But for now, enjoy our first tale:
What I am presenting here are two articles I wrote that are tales of adventures that happened those summers. They were originally presented in "The Servant," the newsletter of our local Order of the Arrow lodge, Allogagan Lodge #83. It may be no coincidence that at the time I was in charge (and basically the sole staff) of "The Servant," so it was easy for me to get whatever I wanted published in it. When I had first taken it over, it was a rather dry and bare bones newsletter, and I always tried to inject a bit more life and enjoyability into it. For example, for some time I included a comic strip in "The Servant," which was drawn by Boy Scouts ½ alumni Mike Quadrozzi. Sadly, I don't have all of these handy. But what I do have handy is these two articles I wrote, which I'd like to share with you now.
Let us set the scene for the first: The time is the summer of 1996. About a year prior to when Boy Scouts ½ would take place. I had taken a journey, along with twelve other members of the lodge, to attend that summer's National Order of the Arrow Conference, also known as NOAC. It was a journey that would haunt those who were a part of it to this day. (Or at least would still haunt my mother, when I reminded her earlier today of the mode of transportation we had used for this trip...) I'll be back with some more context after the article. But for now, enjoy our first tale:
NOAC '96 -- The Real Story
(from "The Servant," Volume 5, Issue 4 - Nov/Dec/Jan 1997)
(from "The Servant," Volume 5, Issue 4 - Nov/Dec/Jan 1997)
8 August, 1996. That date will go down in infamy for the thirteen hapless souls who departed Chicopee late that evening. It was the date that they first entered that van. When you first hear the term “fifteen passenger van” and there are only thirteen people in your group, you think, “Great, room to spare!” However, it quickly becomes apparent that whoever decided to call it a “fifteen passenger van” must have been a dwarf. However, the group was ready and eager to get to Indiana, so they piled in and were ready to roll.
Five minutes down the road, members of the group already had to go to the bathroom. Mr. Jack Greaves, the van’s driver, promised that they would stop “soon”. Six hours later, the van finally made a stop in Syracuse, New York and most of its occupants exploded out of the van, making a mad dash for the restrooms. Dain Binder led the way. After refreshing themselves, the intrepid adventurers who would test the limits of human endurance during the voyage, piled back into the van. Next stop, Niagara Falls.
The group arrived in Niagara at about 5:00 a.m., after what seemed like an eternity trying to find their way across the border. The group was happy that Jeff Dean, who had attended NOACs in the past, was not attending this one as he had been known to scream, “Help, they’re kidnapping us!” at border crossings.
Once they managed to cross the border, the group split up. The youths went off in search of breakfast and a card shop. The only breakfast the group found was a Denny’s, where they each spent an average of between $8.00 - $10.00 at a restaurant that serves a $2.99 Grand Slam Breakfast. After quizzing the waiter about Canadian Driver’s Licenses, the group left the waiter a $30 tip. (No kidding.)
The group took a short cut back to where the van (and the Adults) were waiting, with all but Dain and Jay Greaves (who were still eating breakfast) taking a mud-sliding adventure down one very steep hill. While waiting for Dain and Jay (who chickened out and took the long way back) , Julio Rivera began hunting seagulls and while doing so dived right into mass quantities of mud.
Once everyone was back together, the Adults went off for breakfast. Unlike the youth, they lucked upon an “All You Can Eat -- $5” joint. While the Adults were chowing down, the youth did some more exploring and were disappointed in two aspects. First, all of the women in town were still asleep (it was only a little after seven in the morning), and second, they still couldn’t find a card shop for Matthew Atanian, who for some reason wanted to find some Magic Cards that were printed in French, despite the fact that he didn’t understand French.
After following Jay down an alley and being chased by a monster Garbage Truck, the youth returned to the van and, while waiting for the Adult’s return, read Chris Champagne’s Rolling Stone magazine that featured Carmen Diaz on the cover. Well, perhaps they weren’t reading it as much as they were looking at the pictures…
Soon after, the adults returned, we were on the road again. Shortly after recrossing the border, Jay was utterly disheartened when the group wouldn’t stop at the Niagara Hard Rock Cafe.
Their next stop was in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area, where they checked into a hotel and slept well into the next afternoon. Upon awakening, some of the youth took it upon themselves to find lunch. Dain, Jay, and Chris returned singing their newly created “Taco Supreme” song. (Ask them, and I’m sure they’ll sing it for you.) Matt never did find lunch, but he did buy a copy of Sci-Fi Universe magazine at a local drugstore. “After all,” he said, “you have to have priorities.”
Later that day, the gallant Allogagan youth discovered, after a long and relentless search, “where the action in Cleveland is.” It wasn’t much. The group did take in a movie (some of them two), and Matt purchased the second of many books that he would buy on the trip, all of them books he could have bought at home.
Early the next morning, after a hearty (and significantly lower priced then in Canada) breakfast, the group once again took to the road. Two hours later, they stopped and returned to Cleveland for their trailer, which had become disconnected while they were pulling out of the restaurant’s parking lot and miraculously was still in one place, sitting in the middle of the road. They reconnected it and were on their way again.
Sometime around lunch, they arrived in Bloomington, Indiana, sight of the 1996 NOAC. They pulled into an Arby’s for lunch, and Matt was ecstatic to discover a Barnes & Noble bookstore. He went in and came out much later baring not one but three books, and made his mother, Bonnie Atanian, promise not to let him near another bookstore for the duration of the trip. As soon as they reached the University of Indiana, the sight of the 1996 conference, she made sure to let him know where the University Bookstore was.
The next six days at the conference were an experience to remember. Each member of the group had their own experiences that would take up too much room here, so ask them sometime about it and prepare for a great story. NOAC was full of patch trading, nightly shows, Indian events, ceremonial events, an O.A. museum, camp promotions, and many other features. In patch trading, our patch, Allogagan’s first ever NOAC flap, was a much sought after item, quickly and affectionately (although much to the patch designer’s aggravation) dubbed “the Green Snot patch”. The lovely Mrs. Michelle Greaves (whitewater queen and wife of the curmudgeonly Jack) received a much welcomed first taste of the patch trading biz. Jason Chartier seemed particularly thrilled to meet Miss Teenage America. Andrew and Tony Dufault never seemed far from the dining common. (Andy, it should be noted, carried our large metal Lodge Flap during the opening show. Usually, the flap gets lost amongst the five hundred or so other flaps being paraded around the stage, but this year. Andy made sure everyone saw it!) Matt was on more than one occasion seen leaving the University computer lab with a large stack of papers, having printed a treasure trove on information about the anime series, Sailor Moon.
Other members of the Lodge were hard at work in the computer labs, too. One day, when Mr. Heidi Atanian was making a visit to the room of Jay and Dain (which featured a construction of Pizza boxes that became affectionately known as “the leaning tower of Pizza”), Mr. Atanian spied a group of pictures pinned up in Jay’s closet that Jay and Dain swore were for their anatomy classes the next morning. “Strange,” Mr. Atanian commented, “I didn’t see that class listed on the syllabus.”
Wednesday was Founder’s Day at NOAC. Founder’s Day is basically a big fair put on by many of the attending lodges. During Founder’s Day, many competitive sporting events were held. Two of our more hardy Arrowmen chose to enter the 5K Run/Walk. Jay “which way did he go” Greaves and Dain “help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” Binder help put Allogagan Lodge on the map with their fine example of athleticism.
Thursday was the last day of the conference, and all in Allogagan’s contingent felt that the end had come too soon. Did they wish the conference was longer, and felt that they weren’t given ample time to enjoy themselves? Partially, but mostly they didn’t want to get back in that van. The Lodge’s plan called for a long drive non-stop to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. The drive began around noon, and around 2:00 or 3:00 a.m., something had started to smell.
Some of the youth had begun to see who could fart the longest, the loudest, and the smelliest. The other youth and the adults were grateful when the oxygen masks dropped down from the overhead compartment. Not long after, Dain coined the popularly infamous phrase to describe the conditions within the van: “It smells like a**!!!”
Around 5:00 in the morning, they arrived as a hotel, and after a few hours of much desired sleep, they were off to the park. Other lodges were also there, and they wanted to trade patches. Matt got a good chunk of his third book read. After a full day at the amusement park, it was off to the adjacent Hershey Chocolate factory. During the tour, Julio fell into a chocolate river and was sucked up a big tube, Chris ate a piece of gum and turned into a giant blueberry, and Jason was adopted by the Oompa Loompas. After the factory tour, the group made their way to a giant candy store, where Scott was pretending he was a big ladies man, secure in the knowledge that soon they’d be on the road again and he wouldn’t have to prove anything he had bragged about.
They got back in the dreaded van and departed Hershey Park. Finally, at long last, they arrived in Chicopee and spilled out of the a** smelling van, eager for a breath of fresh air. Many of the group said that they were looking forward to NOAC ’98 in Iowa. They also agreed that they wouldn’t go in another “fifteen passenger” van.
Oh, and by the way, there were some instructional sessions presented each morning at NOAC, too.
Five minutes down the road, members of the group already had to go to the bathroom. Mr. Jack Greaves, the van’s driver, promised that they would stop “soon”. Six hours later, the van finally made a stop in Syracuse, New York and most of its occupants exploded out of the van, making a mad dash for the restrooms. Dain Binder led the way. After refreshing themselves, the intrepid adventurers who would test the limits of human endurance during the voyage, piled back into the van. Next stop, Niagara Falls.
The group arrived in Niagara at about 5:00 a.m., after what seemed like an eternity trying to find their way across the border. The group was happy that Jeff Dean, who had attended NOACs in the past, was not attending this one as he had been known to scream, “Help, they’re kidnapping us!” at border crossings.
Once they managed to cross the border, the group split up. The youths went off in search of breakfast and a card shop. The only breakfast the group found was a Denny’s, where they each spent an average of between $8.00 - $10.00 at a restaurant that serves a $2.99 Grand Slam Breakfast. After quizzing the waiter about Canadian Driver’s Licenses, the group left the waiter a $30 tip. (No kidding.)
The group took a short cut back to where the van (and the Adults) were waiting, with all but Dain and Jay Greaves (who were still eating breakfast) taking a mud-sliding adventure down one very steep hill. While waiting for Dain and Jay (who chickened out and took the long way back) , Julio Rivera began hunting seagulls and while doing so dived right into mass quantities of mud.
Once everyone was back together, the Adults went off for breakfast. Unlike the youth, they lucked upon an “All You Can Eat -- $5” joint. While the Adults were chowing down, the youth did some more exploring and were disappointed in two aspects. First, all of the women in town were still asleep (it was only a little after seven in the morning), and second, they still couldn’t find a card shop for Matthew Atanian, who for some reason wanted to find some Magic Cards that were printed in French, despite the fact that he didn’t understand French.
After following Jay down an alley and being chased by a monster Garbage Truck, the youth returned to the van and, while waiting for the Adult’s return, read Chris Champagne’s Rolling Stone magazine that featured Carmen Diaz on the cover. Well, perhaps they weren’t reading it as much as they were looking at the pictures…
Soon after, the adults returned, we were on the road again. Shortly after recrossing the border, Jay was utterly disheartened when the group wouldn’t stop at the Niagara Hard Rock Cafe.
Their next stop was in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area, where they checked into a hotel and slept well into the next afternoon. Upon awakening, some of the youth took it upon themselves to find lunch. Dain, Jay, and Chris returned singing their newly created “Taco Supreme” song. (Ask them, and I’m sure they’ll sing it for you.) Matt never did find lunch, but he did buy a copy of Sci-Fi Universe magazine at a local drugstore. “After all,” he said, “you have to have priorities.”
Later that day, the gallant Allogagan youth discovered, after a long and relentless search, “where the action in Cleveland is.” It wasn’t much. The group did take in a movie (some of them two), and Matt purchased the second of many books that he would buy on the trip, all of them books he could have bought at home.
Early the next morning, after a hearty (and significantly lower priced then in Canada) breakfast, the group once again took to the road. Two hours later, they stopped and returned to Cleveland for their trailer, which had become disconnected while they were pulling out of the restaurant’s parking lot and miraculously was still in one place, sitting in the middle of the road. They reconnected it and were on their way again.
Sometime around lunch, they arrived in Bloomington, Indiana, sight of the 1996 NOAC. They pulled into an Arby’s for lunch, and Matt was ecstatic to discover a Barnes & Noble bookstore. He went in and came out much later baring not one but three books, and made his mother, Bonnie Atanian, promise not to let him near another bookstore for the duration of the trip. As soon as they reached the University of Indiana, the sight of the 1996 conference, she made sure to let him know where the University Bookstore was.
The next six days at the conference were an experience to remember. Each member of the group had their own experiences that would take up too much room here, so ask them sometime about it and prepare for a great story. NOAC was full of patch trading, nightly shows, Indian events, ceremonial events, an O.A. museum, camp promotions, and many other features. In patch trading, our patch, Allogagan’s first ever NOAC flap, was a much sought after item, quickly and affectionately (although much to the patch designer’s aggravation) dubbed “the Green Snot patch”. The lovely Mrs. Michelle Greaves (whitewater queen and wife of the curmudgeonly Jack) received a much welcomed first taste of the patch trading biz. Jason Chartier seemed particularly thrilled to meet Miss Teenage America. Andrew and Tony Dufault never seemed far from the dining common. (Andy, it should be noted, carried our large metal Lodge Flap during the opening show. Usually, the flap gets lost amongst the five hundred or so other flaps being paraded around the stage, but this year. Andy made sure everyone saw it!) Matt was on more than one occasion seen leaving the University computer lab with a large stack of papers, having printed a treasure trove on information about the anime series, Sailor Moon.
Other members of the Lodge were hard at work in the computer labs, too. One day, when Mr. Heidi Atanian was making a visit to the room of Jay and Dain (which featured a construction of Pizza boxes that became affectionately known as “the leaning tower of Pizza”), Mr. Atanian spied a group of pictures pinned up in Jay’s closet that Jay and Dain swore were for their anatomy classes the next morning. “Strange,” Mr. Atanian commented, “I didn’t see that class listed on the syllabus.”
Wednesday was Founder’s Day at NOAC. Founder’s Day is basically a big fair put on by many of the attending lodges. During Founder’s Day, many competitive sporting events were held. Two of our more hardy Arrowmen chose to enter the 5K Run/Walk. Jay “which way did he go” Greaves and Dain “help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” Binder help put Allogagan Lodge on the map with their fine example of athleticism.
Thursday was the last day of the conference, and all in Allogagan’s contingent felt that the end had come too soon. Did they wish the conference was longer, and felt that they weren’t given ample time to enjoy themselves? Partially, but mostly they didn’t want to get back in that van. The Lodge’s plan called for a long drive non-stop to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. The drive began around noon, and around 2:00 or 3:00 a.m., something had started to smell.
Some of the youth had begun to see who could fart the longest, the loudest, and the smelliest. The other youth and the adults were grateful when the oxygen masks dropped down from the overhead compartment. Not long after, Dain coined the popularly infamous phrase to describe the conditions within the van: “It smells like a**!!!”
Around 5:00 in the morning, they arrived as a hotel, and after a few hours of much desired sleep, they were off to the park. Other lodges were also there, and they wanted to trade patches. Matt got a good chunk of his third book read. After a full day at the amusement park, it was off to the adjacent Hershey Chocolate factory. During the tour, Julio fell into a chocolate river and was sucked up a big tube, Chris ate a piece of gum and turned into a giant blueberry, and Jason was adopted by the Oompa Loompas. After the factory tour, the group made their way to a giant candy store, where Scott was pretending he was a big ladies man, secure in the knowledge that soon they’d be on the road again and he wouldn’t have to prove anything he had bragged about.
They got back in the dreaded van and departed Hershey Park. Finally, at long last, they arrived in Chicopee and spilled out of the a** smelling van, eager for a breath of fresh air. Many of the group said that they were looking forward to NOAC ’98 in Iowa. They also agreed that they wouldn’t go in another “fifteen passenger” van.
Oh, and by the way, there were some instructional sessions presented each morning at NOAC, too.
And hello, this is present(ish) day Matt back with you once more.
Dear god, that van. That van! For NOAC 1998, we flew.
Before we go much farther, a technical note: This page on the Boy Scouts ½ website was inspired when I actually came across some very old document files that contained the typeset and ready-for-the-printers versions of some old issues of "The Servant." And that made me think of the two articles I am sharing with you today. Unfortunately, while the issue with the second article I wish to share was present in one of these files, the issue with the above article was not. And so, in order to share it with you, I have just retyped the entire thing, using a vintage paper issue of the newsletter to copy it from.
I have tried my best to copy it exactly as it was, and unfortunately that means leaving in any vaguely questionable grammar that I might word differently today, and also one accidentally misused word. In the above article, at one point I mention the trailer our luggage was being carried in accidentally being left behind. In the article, it says of the trailer that it, "miraculously was still in one place, sitting in the middle of the road." Hopefully you caught the accidentally misused word from the context, but just in case you didn't, I am relatively sure that it should have read, "miraculously was still in one piece, sitting in the middle of the road."
Anyway, as far as real life goes, the above tale is mostly true. There were some exaggerations, mostly for comedic effect. (For example, I don't think the Hershey Factory actually has Oompa Loompas.) But everything in this tale has some basis in the reality of what happened that summer.
In my own defense... That excessive tip that was left at the Denny's... I didn't not contribute to it, but I didn't take part in making it so ridiculously large. (By today's standard, $30.00 may not seem like much for a large group of eight or nine, but in '96, it was.) What happened was that most of the group wanted to get rid of any Canadian change they'd picked up on our brief time there, and I was one of the few that realized that in Canada, $1.00 and $2.00 denominations were part of the coinage.
Also, yeah. I practically left with the equivalent of a thick a binder full of Sailor Moon info printed from the University's computers. I was really big into the show at the time, what can I say? (This was early on into my anime fandom. I'm pretty sure that I was limited to Sailor Moon, which was on TV at the time, and I was only soon to discover the joy of renting anime videos at the local comic shop. And also, this was before I had internet in my own home. I don't think that came until sometime in mid-late 1997.)
The "Green Snot" patch. I hated when it was called that. It was actually a patch designed to emulate the cover of the American edition of the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. And I'm the one who designed the patch! No reason for it other then, frankly, I liked the book. And that at that time in the lodge I had that kind of influence, where in the absence of any alternate ideas my idea was accepted without objection. And, in fact, I did it again in 1998, 2000, and 2004. (I don't remember why there was no patch for 2002... Perhaps we didn't actually send a contingent to NOAC that summer?) Sadly, there was some executive meddling in 2000, where my original design (copied from the cover of Life, the Universe, and Everything) was considered to contain a rude gesture, and it was demanded that it be changed. (My defenses that it was a pre existing design and that to alter it would be to miss the point, and also that the first one in 1996 contained a gesture that was likely just as mildly rude, did not help.) I refused to change it myself, but said if they wanted to change it without my consent, then that was their business. Astonishingly, as I'm typing this, I actually just found my original concept art! Also sadly, probably a sign that my vast power and influence was on the wane by this time, in 2006 I tried to complete the trilogy with a submission for a patch design based on the fifth book, Mostly Harmless. Alas, the powers that be at the time decided to go in a different direction and used another design for that year's Allogagan NOAC Lodge Flap. (Capitol One Vikings, for no readily apparent reasoning. Be one thing if they'd received funding from Capitol One, but from what I could gather, it was just because someone thought the Vikings were cool. Well, yes, they are! But cool enough to basically give Capitol One free advertising on our patch? And cooler then Douglas Adams? I think not!)
Dear god, that van. That van! For NOAC 1998, we flew.
Before we go much farther, a technical note: This page on the Boy Scouts ½ website was inspired when I actually came across some very old document files that contained the typeset and ready-for-the-printers versions of some old issues of "The Servant." And that made me think of the two articles I am sharing with you today. Unfortunately, while the issue with the second article I wish to share was present in one of these files, the issue with the above article was not. And so, in order to share it with you, I have just retyped the entire thing, using a vintage paper issue of the newsletter to copy it from.
I have tried my best to copy it exactly as it was, and unfortunately that means leaving in any vaguely questionable grammar that I might word differently today, and also one accidentally misused word. In the above article, at one point I mention the trailer our luggage was being carried in accidentally being left behind. In the article, it says of the trailer that it, "miraculously was still in one place, sitting in the middle of the road." Hopefully you caught the accidentally misused word from the context, but just in case you didn't, I am relatively sure that it should have read, "miraculously was still in one piece, sitting in the middle of the road."
Anyway, as far as real life goes, the above tale is mostly true. There were some exaggerations, mostly for comedic effect. (For example, I don't think the Hershey Factory actually has Oompa Loompas.) But everything in this tale has some basis in the reality of what happened that summer.
In my own defense... That excessive tip that was left at the Denny's... I didn't not contribute to it, but I didn't take part in making it so ridiculously large. (By today's standard, $30.00 may not seem like much for a large group of eight or nine, but in '96, it was.) What happened was that most of the group wanted to get rid of any Canadian change they'd picked up on our brief time there, and I was one of the few that realized that in Canada, $1.00 and $2.00 denominations were part of the coinage.
Also, yeah. I practically left with the equivalent of a thick a binder full of Sailor Moon info printed from the University's computers. I was really big into the show at the time, what can I say? (This was early on into my anime fandom. I'm pretty sure that I was limited to Sailor Moon, which was on TV at the time, and I was only soon to discover the joy of renting anime videos at the local comic shop. And also, this was before I had internet in my own home. I don't think that came until sometime in mid-late 1997.)
The "Green Snot" patch. I hated when it was called that. It was actually a patch designed to emulate the cover of the American edition of the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. And I'm the one who designed the patch! No reason for it other then, frankly, I liked the book. And that at that time in the lodge I had that kind of influence, where in the absence of any alternate ideas my idea was accepted without objection. And, in fact, I did it again in 1998, 2000, and 2004. (I don't remember why there was no patch for 2002... Perhaps we didn't actually send a contingent to NOAC that summer?) Sadly, there was some executive meddling in 2000, where my original design (copied from the cover of Life, the Universe, and Everything) was considered to contain a rude gesture, and it was demanded that it be changed. (My defenses that it was a pre existing design and that to alter it would be to miss the point, and also that the first one in 1996 contained a gesture that was likely just as mildly rude, did not help.) I refused to change it myself, but said if they wanted to change it without my consent, then that was their business. Astonishingly, as I'm typing this, I actually just found my original concept art! Also sadly, probably a sign that my vast power and influence was on the wane by this time, in 2006 I tried to complete the trilogy with a submission for a patch design based on the fifth book, Mostly Harmless. Alas, the powers that be at the time decided to go in a different direction and used another design for that year's Allogagan NOAC Lodge Flap. (Capitol One Vikings, for no readily apparent reasoning. Be one thing if they'd received funding from Capitol One, but from what I could gather, it was just because someone thought the Vikings were cool. Well, yes, they are! But cool enough to basically give Capitol One free advertising on our patch? And cooler then Douglas Adams? I think not!)
The 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2004 Allogagan Lodge NOAC Lodge Flaps with "Hitchhikers" designs. (There were two variants of 2000's design, thanks to a second run with a lighter green, when the Lodge Advisor at the time intentionally got a second order incorrectly made in a questionable attempt to create an "accidental" variant. 2004 was designed with two intentional variants, the red & white border as a common, and the silver border available in very limited numbers to the Allogagan members actually attending NOAC, or people with deep pockets as a fundraising measure.) My personal favorite of all of these patches has always been the red & white border 2004 one. Everything just came together perfectly on that patch, I thought.
So, could this tale be considered canon backstory for the fictional Matthew Atanian as he appears in Boy Scouts ½? Most definitely! In fact, the book that Matt was reading from when he decided upon the last name of Hayes for his female persona would be one of the three that I am described as having bought at the Barnes & Noble. (So yes, definitely before I was renting videos at Card & Comic. Those books were my first reintroduction to Robotech since when I watched it on television as a child, and Robotech videos were the first ones I rented at the comic store.)
The next tale, I fear I'd have to say is not canon for Boy Scouts ½. For now we move forward to the summer of 1997. So I should think that this is what fictional-me would have been up to had Aaron not won that contest for a free trip to China. So, if Boy Scouts ½ had never happened (in other words, real life), this would have been what happened to Matthew Atanian that summer, instead:
The next tale, I fear I'd have to say is not canon for Boy Scouts ½. For now we move forward to the summer of 1997. So I should think that this is what fictional-me would have been up to had Aaron not won that contest for a free trip to China. So, if Boy Scouts ½ had never happened (in other words, real life), this would have been what happened to Matthew Atanian that summer, instead:
O. A. Service Corps:
Cheerful Service at the National Jamboree
By Matthew Atanian
(from "The Servant," Volume 6, Issue 4 - Dec/Jan/Feb 1998)
Cheerful Service at the National Jamboree
By Matthew Atanian
(from "The Servant," Volume 6, Issue 4 - Dec/Jan/Feb 1998)
Hi, Everybody!
Some of you may have noticed my absence from the Trading Post this last summer. I’m sure there were many celebrations, and I’ve heard second hand of more than one person who thanked God that there wasn’t any Star Wars music in there. (For those few of you who actually missed me, thank you.)
As many of you may already know, the reason for my absence was that I had been accepted on staff at the 1997 National Jamboree. Not just any Staff position either… The O.A. Service Corps!
The Service Corps provides service to the Jamboree wherever it may be needed. You need a monkey bridge set up at TOAP? We’ll send a crew on over. You need people to stamp activity books? We’ll send a few on over. You need people to do anything from cleaning grime off of something unmentionable to working in the Chief Scout Executive’s office for the day? Look no further than the Brothers in the O.A. Service Corps.
The Service Corps consisted of a group of slightly more than one hundred Arrowmen and was divided into five Chapters. The Chapter I was in was known as the Yoda Chapter. (I swear that I in no way influenced the group into choosing this name. If anything, the Chapter “borrowed” its name from Marin Council’s JSP.) The Yoda Chapter was a close knit group under the tutelage of our wise and all knowing Jedi Master, R. D. Duncan.
Over the course of the Jamboree, I was assigned many fun jobs giving me an opportunity to serve scouts from all over the country. No matter how grueling a job was, such as helping set up TOAP, I still had fun. And some jobs, such as lending a hand in Action Center C, provided ample opportunity for patch trading on the side!
Of course, there was one job that every member of the Service Corps detested… ushering for the shows. Between dealing with crotchety Scoutmasters and Holier-Than-Thou Arena Security Staff, I’m more than surprised that no one on the Service Corps flipped and went on a homicidal rampage. (Actually, one or two people almost did.)
One day I was assigned to work in the Exploring Booth, where I got to meet the National Exploring President, Ms. Shana McElroy. I was shocked when I heard her opinion of what she called the “Order of the Arrogant.” Despite her apparent feelings, she has invited herself to the 1998 NOAC. I invite all members of Allogagan Lodge who are planning on attending NOAC to, should you meet her, show her how the O.A. really is. (Or, you could be nice to her instead in an attempt to prove her wrong.)
The food could have been a bit better, but I gather that the Jamboree Staff did eat better than the Jamboree Participants. (Ha, ha!) And luckally for me (natorious as one of the Lodge’s most picky eaters), the Service Corps was housed in the barracks at Wilcox, which was just a hop skip and a jump away from the Post Exchange building which contained a rather nice little pizza place.
Nighttime at the Jamboree was an interesting time. Sleep, of course, was on the agenda. I also played more than one game of Magic: The Gathering with other scouts from around the country. (I also played Magic with Allogagan’s own Jay Greaves, who, while not with the Service Corps, was also housed at Wilcox.) I examined my latest patch acquisitions with glee. (Patch trading was no problem when everybody wanted a Cat in the Hat!) I did some light reading or listened to some music. And of course, there was the nightly Chapter meeting.
The Chapter meetings I find difficult to put into words. These meetings were a time to relax and unwind after a hard day. It was a time to reflect deep within yourself. It was a time to review the past day’s events. It was a time to get to know your fellow Chapter members. It was a time to share your feelings about each other with each other. And, of course, it was a time to get the next day’s job assignments. (Oh, bother.) Over all, the Chapter meetings are probably for me one of the most memorable parts of the Jamboree Experience, as it was these meetings that brought the Yoda Chapter together as tightly as it was. Should any of you ever get the opportunity to serve on the Service Corps, I hope you get R. D. as your Chapter Advisor so you can find out for yourself exactly what the Chapter Meetings he had were like. It is difficult to express in words what these meetings were like, especially the one on the night before departing Fort A. P. Hill when we were saying our good-byes to each other.
I would encourage any of you hoping to get a Staff position at the next National Jamboree to consider the O. A. Service Corps. It was an experience I will never forget.
Some of you may have noticed my absence from the Trading Post this last summer. I’m sure there were many celebrations, and I’ve heard second hand of more than one person who thanked God that there wasn’t any Star Wars music in there. (For those few of you who actually missed me, thank you.)
As many of you may already know, the reason for my absence was that I had been accepted on staff at the 1997 National Jamboree. Not just any Staff position either… The O.A. Service Corps!
The Service Corps provides service to the Jamboree wherever it may be needed. You need a monkey bridge set up at TOAP? We’ll send a crew on over. You need people to stamp activity books? We’ll send a few on over. You need people to do anything from cleaning grime off of something unmentionable to working in the Chief Scout Executive’s office for the day? Look no further than the Brothers in the O.A. Service Corps.
The Service Corps consisted of a group of slightly more than one hundred Arrowmen and was divided into five Chapters. The Chapter I was in was known as the Yoda Chapter. (I swear that I in no way influenced the group into choosing this name. If anything, the Chapter “borrowed” its name from Marin Council’s JSP.) The Yoda Chapter was a close knit group under the tutelage of our wise and all knowing Jedi Master, R. D. Duncan.
Over the course of the Jamboree, I was assigned many fun jobs giving me an opportunity to serve scouts from all over the country. No matter how grueling a job was, such as helping set up TOAP, I still had fun. And some jobs, such as lending a hand in Action Center C, provided ample opportunity for patch trading on the side!
Of course, there was one job that every member of the Service Corps detested… ushering for the shows. Between dealing with crotchety Scoutmasters and Holier-Than-Thou Arena Security Staff, I’m more than surprised that no one on the Service Corps flipped and went on a homicidal rampage. (Actually, one or two people almost did.)
One day I was assigned to work in the Exploring Booth, where I got to meet the National Exploring President, Ms. Shana McElroy. I was shocked when I heard her opinion of what she called the “Order of the Arrogant.” Despite her apparent feelings, she has invited herself to the 1998 NOAC. I invite all members of Allogagan Lodge who are planning on attending NOAC to, should you meet her, show her how the O.A. really is. (Or, you could be nice to her instead in an attempt to prove her wrong.)
The food could have been a bit better, but I gather that the Jamboree Staff did eat better than the Jamboree Participants. (Ha, ha!) And luckally for me (natorious as one of the Lodge’s most picky eaters), the Service Corps was housed in the barracks at Wilcox, which was just a hop skip and a jump away from the Post Exchange building which contained a rather nice little pizza place.
Nighttime at the Jamboree was an interesting time. Sleep, of course, was on the agenda. I also played more than one game of Magic: The Gathering with other scouts from around the country. (I also played Magic with Allogagan’s own Jay Greaves, who, while not with the Service Corps, was also housed at Wilcox.) I examined my latest patch acquisitions with glee. (Patch trading was no problem when everybody wanted a Cat in the Hat!) I did some light reading or listened to some music. And of course, there was the nightly Chapter meeting.
The Chapter meetings I find difficult to put into words. These meetings were a time to relax and unwind after a hard day. It was a time to reflect deep within yourself. It was a time to review the past day’s events. It was a time to get to know your fellow Chapter members. It was a time to share your feelings about each other with each other. And, of course, it was a time to get the next day’s job assignments. (Oh, bother.) Over all, the Chapter meetings are probably for me one of the most memorable parts of the Jamboree Experience, as it was these meetings that brought the Yoda Chapter together as tightly as it was. Should any of you ever get the opportunity to serve on the Service Corps, I hope you get R. D. as your Chapter Advisor so you can find out for yourself exactly what the Chapter Meetings he had were like. It is difficult to express in words what these meetings were like, especially the one on the night before departing Fort A. P. Hill when we were saying our good-byes to each other.
I would encourage any of you hoping to get a Staff position at the next National Jamboree to consider the O. A. Service Corps. It was an experience I will never forget.
Ah, the Yoda Chapter. I still swear I had nothing to do with that, although I will admit I did not discourage it. To assist the layman, I will explain the reference to a JSP, specifically Marin Council's.
Each council has their own Council Strip patch, commonly abbreviated as a CSP. Many councils produce special ones during years of National Jamborees, much like the above discussed NOAC flaps that O.A. lodges might make for NOACS. The Jamboree CSPs get abbreviated as JSPs.
They are often given designs that tie them into something local and popular. Hence the reference to everyone wanting a "Cat in the Hat" when I was patch trading. (Theadore Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Suess, was a native of Springfield, MA.) One of the other people in my Service Lodge chapter was from Marin Council, which also happens to be the home of Lucasfilm. So guess who they had on their JSPs? Hence, the Yoda Chapter.
It was on my way to the 1997 Jamboree that I discovered Maison Ikkoku. By this time, I had already well discovered Ranma ½. Heck, the creation of Boy Scouts ½ was either very recent or just around the corner. (I don't recall exactly if it would have been in the spring or the fall, but if I had to guess I'd say it was in the early fall.) And when on route me and my two traveling companions (I don't recall who they were, sadly, but it was a local father and son pair who were also going to work at the Jamboree) made a stop part way, it was at a store that also happened to have a small selection of graphic novels. None of them were Ranma ½, alas, but I did see the first book in another title by the same author. Curious, I picked it up... Today, it is probably my favorite manga series, and certainly my favorite work of Takahashi-senpai's.
And so ends our look into strange tales of real life. I hope you have enjoyed this look at my past, and perhaps gotten some insight into who I was way back when this whole crazy Boy Scouts ½ thing first started!
Each council has their own Council Strip patch, commonly abbreviated as a CSP. Many councils produce special ones during years of National Jamborees, much like the above discussed NOAC flaps that O.A. lodges might make for NOACS. The Jamboree CSPs get abbreviated as JSPs.
They are often given designs that tie them into something local and popular. Hence the reference to everyone wanting a "Cat in the Hat" when I was patch trading. (Theadore Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Suess, was a native of Springfield, MA.) One of the other people in my Service Lodge chapter was from Marin Council, which also happens to be the home of Lucasfilm. So guess who they had on their JSPs? Hence, the Yoda Chapter.
It was on my way to the 1997 Jamboree that I discovered Maison Ikkoku. By this time, I had already well discovered Ranma ½. Heck, the creation of Boy Scouts ½ was either very recent or just around the corner. (I don't recall exactly if it would have been in the spring or the fall, but if I had to guess I'd say it was in the early fall.) And when on route me and my two traveling companions (I don't recall who they were, sadly, but it was a local father and son pair who were also going to work at the Jamboree) made a stop part way, it was at a store that also happened to have a small selection of graphic novels. None of them were Ranma ½, alas, but I did see the first book in another title by the same author. Curious, I picked it up... Today, it is probably my favorite manga series, and certainly my favorite work of Takahashi-senpai's.
And so ends our look into strange tales of real life. I hope you have enjoyed this look at my past, and perhaps gotten some insight into who I was way back when this whole crazy Boy Scouts ½ thing first started!