HISTORY

HISTORY | PAST CHIEFS | AWARDS | ALLEMAKEWINK 54 | MIQUIN 68

In the year 1999, the Boy Scouts of America, in an effort to help a number of councils reorganize, oversaw a number of council merges. During the year 2000, the Morris-Sussex Area Council (based in Denville, NJ) and the Watchung Area Council (based in Mountainside, NJ) underwent such a merger.  The two merged councils formed the Patriots' Path Council - now based out of Florham Park, NJ.

Under the National Order of the Arrow rules and regulations, there can only be one lodge for every council.  As a result, during the year 2000, there were merger meetings between the two lodges (Allemakewink #54 and Miquin #68).  Since it was a NOAC year, and Allemakewink was both celebrating its 70^th anniversary and hosting a Section Conclave, it did not want to merge immediately. The merger committee decided it was best to merge the lodges in the following year.

The merger committee did not seem to have too much difficulty deciding on a name and number.  They wanted the number to be low because both prior lodges had lower numbers (#54 and #68), and wanted to incorporate elements of the two previous lodges into the new one. The name decided on was “Woapalanne #43”, roughly translating to “eagle”. The merger committee decided that the lodge color would be green, and that the totem would be an eagle with outlined feathers. In 2005, however, the totem was modified by the LEC to incorporate the eagle exclusively.

The first Sunday of January was the 1st annual Winter Banquet held at the Morristown Armory. This was the first time that both lodges came together as one.

In the spring of 2001, the lodge held its first Fellowship Day, and two Ordeal Weekends.  The lodge decided to have two Ordeal Weekends in the spring (one at each camp) and one Ordeal Weekend in the fall (rotating the camp).  The lodge’s first National Jamboree was also in this year.  Additionally, from this year forward, the lodge decided to hold an OA Day at both summer camps in which service would be accompanied by a brotherhood conversion ceremony for eligible Ordeal members and a cracker barrel would be provided for all brothers attending camp. Also, Peter Keays, the Lodge's first chief, was elected to be NE-2B Section Chief in that same year - the first of the Lodge's young history to hold a section position.

In 2002, Woapalanne participated in its first NOAC at Indiana University. The theme was "Test Yourself and So Discover”.  Woapalanne was one of only two lodges in the Northeast Region and one of only eight in the country to earn the E. Urner Goodman Camping Award.

In 2003, Woapalanne held its first ever section conclave for Section NE-2B at Mt. Allamuchy Scout Reservation. The theme was “How Uncas Got His Groove Back”, and it was a great success for both the section and the lodge.

In the summer of 2004, NOAC was held at Iowa State University, and a contingent of Woaplanne brothers traveled to attend the conference and share in its fun and brotherhood. This same summer, the lodge LEC voted to give a donation to the council for it to purchase a new sail boat for Camp Somers. The boat was named the S.S. Woapalanne, in honor of the donation.  In the fall of that year, the lodge created from scratch a new campsite near the chapel at Camp Somers. The campsite was necessitated by a new pool and shower houses being installed at the camp. Site 14 received the name “Woapalanne” to commemorate the lodge’s service in its construction.

In 2005, the lodge participated in its second National Jamboree.

The year 2006 was a big year for the lodge. On January 1, 2006, the lodge celebrated its 5th Anniversary in existence. At the NE-2B Section Conclave, our immediate Past Lodge Chief, Joe Maugeri, was voted in as the Section Vice Chief, the second lodge member to hold a section position.   In the summer of 2006, a Woapalanne contingent traveled to NOAC, this time going to Michigan State University for NOAC 2006.