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Wiatava Lodge #13

Chiefly Speaking: A Letter from the Lodge Chief

Greetings Wiatava Lodge members,

My name is Vijay and I extend my gratitude to each you all for entrusting me with the honorable position of 2024 Wiatava Lodge Chief. I know this year will be a great year because of all of you as a group of confident and dedicated individuals. Your active participation in our organization and Scouting at large is the driving force behind the greatness we aspire to achieve, and I thank you. 

I look forward to this year with our National Order of the Arrow Conference and all the amazing changes that will come to our events in our lodge! These moments of evolution and growth are not only essential but are made possible by the everyone’s participation and contribution, be it through service, attendance, leadership, or other roles. 

Our lodge wishes to climb higher, and I emphasize that everyone can help with this. Reaching our goals will require lots of hard work, and together, I know we can ascend to greater heights. With your continued support and active engagement, I am confident that Wiatava Lodge will reach new heights.

Climb higher!

NOAC 2024

Arrowmen,
We are excited to invite you to join our lodge contingent at the 2024 National Order of the Arrow Conference at the University of Colorado Boulder! Please stay tuned for our expected travel dates. This is the largest event in the OA, with upwards of 8,000 attendees—from more than 200 contingents—expected from across the country.

We can’t wait to get back to NOAC and watch the nightly stadium shows, bring our lodge to victory in the sports and ceremony competitions, and meet Arrowmen nationwide, all while spending a week living in a college dorm—and yes, it will have air conditioning!

Over the years, Wiatava has built a national reputation, usually sending one of the largest contingents to the National Order of the Arrow Conferences. Our lodge has also provided a National Chief of the Order of the Arrow – Evan Chaffee (2007) – and a National Vice Chief – Larry Brown (1979-80) – along with numerous section and regional officers.

The conference itself is held from July 29-August 3, 2024, but we will also need time to travel to and from Boulder.  We’ll share more details about our itinerary, costs, and how to register but for now, mark your calendars to attend the 2024 NOAC with our lodge contingent!

To hear more about what’s in store at next year’s NOAC, follow the conference social media pages on Instagram and Twitter @OANOAC and like the Facebook page, “NOAC,” and be some of the first to hear updates!
https://oa-bsa.org/program/events/noac

About us

Wiatava Lodge #13 was formed in 1973 to serve the Orange County Council in Southern California, but the history of our lodge begins long before that. Like many councils, the Orange County Council originally had its own honor camper society, known as the Tribe of Gorgonio. It was founded around 1927 at Camp RoKiLi, the council summer camp at Barton Flats in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Wiatava Lodge #13 was officially formed on January 1, 1973. The lodge chose local Indian traditions for both its name and totem. Wiatava is the Cupeño Indian name for Lost Valley, and means place of the oaks. Our totem is the cogstone, an ancient and mysterious artifact, found mostly in archaeological sites in and around Orange County. Rather than keeping the number of either of our predecessors, Wiatava Lodge asked the national office for the lowest number available at the time, and thus became lodge 13.