Watonala Lodge 169

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Watonala Lodge is the Order of the Arrow (OA) lodge of the Pushmataha Area Council #691, Boy Scouts of America in the northeastern quadrant of Mississippi.

Watonala Lodge 169
Watonala Lodge Flap
Formation	September, 1939
Headquarters	Columbus, Mississippi
Location	Ten counties in North Mississippi
Membership	125
Lodge Chief	Justin Miller
Key people	Adviser Adam Tunnell
Staff	6
Website	http://Watonala.org/

1 History
2 Lodge Service
3 Memorabilia
4 See Also
5 References

[edit] History

On September 1, 1939, five adult Boy Scout leaders from the Pushmataha Area Council attended an Order of the Arrow Area Fellowship in Birmingham, Alabama, and learned about the purpose and mission of the Order. Upon returning to the Pushmataha Area Council, an application for a charter was submitted to the National Order of the Arrow office. The initial charter was issued in the latter part of September, 1939.

When the initial charter was issued, it was issued in the name of the local council, as Pushmataha Lodge. In January, 1942, Pushmataha Lodge chose its native American name, Watonala Lodge. In the Choctaw language, Watonala means "white egret", or "white water bird".

The first lodge event was held in the Spring of 1940 at the Natchez Trace Game Preserve, near Houston, Mississippi. Lodge membership began to grow, as new Arrowmen were inducted during each council camporee. Membership slowed considerably during World War II, but resumed its pre-war growth during the few years immediately following World War II.

The founding of Watonala Lodge in 1939 is well documented, although there is an oral history that places the origin of the lodge ten years earlier, in 1929.

[edit] Lodge Service

Watonala Lodge devotes much of its service time to development and maintenance of their home camp, Camp Seminole, which is located five miles north of Starkville, Mississippi. The lodge also publishes an online "Where To Go Camping Guide", aimed at helping other Boy Scouts and the general public find good places to camp, canoe, and hike.

[edit] Memorabilia

The dominant theme of most Watonala patches and memorabilia is its totem, the white egret. The totem is usually shown in profile, facing the viewer's left, and headed upward in flight. There are numerous variations of this design, with the totem image varying slightly with each new patch issue. The lodge issues a new lodge flap every two or three years, and sometimes issues specific patches for OA events, such as Conclave, National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC ), and service events.

Compared to many OA lodges, Watonala Lodge has always been comparatively small in membership numbers. This is due largely to being in a rural council having only ten counties. Because of smaller membership, the quantity of Watonala memorabilia available is usually smaller than most OA lodges.