Cross posted from NYOATrader.com
Gene Berman announced it on Patch-L yesterday:
The five Lodges of NYC, Ranachqua, Shu-shu-gah, Suanhacky, Manahattin, Aquehonga will be merged into ONE new grand lodge. Folks who have asked me for a while what I thought about swirling rumors to this effect got the answer from me that our Scout Executive, Charlie Rosser had made it clear this was not a priority on his plate and “he would get to it when he gets to it, type of answer”. Well, I guess over the summer, “he got to it”.
Charlie wrote:
After careful consideration over the course of many months, I have decided that combining the councils’ five Order of the Arrow lodges into a single lodge will allow the OA to better fulfill the Mission of the Lodgeand the Purpose of the Order of the Arrow. The change will also result in a stronger program for the youth in GNYC and in closer alignment between the activities of the OA and the councils’ strategic priorities as set forth in the recently adopted Strategic Plan. Ultimately, I envision a combined lodge that rivals the best in the country and attracts the top leadership, both youth and adult, that the BSA has to offer.
The current lodges will recharter at year end, but the merger effective date will be April 1 , 2013 when a new interim charter will be issued.
Currently scheduled lodge meetings and activities will be completed through March 30, 2013
This would put it at the start of the Ordeal Season and the NE-2B fellowship would reflect the single lodge.
There are at least 2 proposals for structure: 5 chapters, one for each borough or 8 chapters, one for each District (Brooklyn (Shu Shu Gah) has 2 districts, Queens (Suanhacky) has 3, the other boroughs are single districts).
A merger committee is being appointed.
All integration planning and execution for the new lodge will be led by a transition leadership team. The team will consist of two youth representatives from each of the five current lodges, one being the Lodge Chief and the other to be appointed by each lodge’s Lodge Executive Committee (LEC). The team will be guided by the new Lodge Adviser and Lodge Staff Adviser
And those individuals are:
I have asked Colin Pinnavaia, former Lodge Adviser of Shu-Shu-Gah Lodge, to serve as Lodge Adviser for the new lodge. I have also asked Chris Coscia, Director of Field Service and Chief Operating Officer, to serve as Lodge Staff Adviser for the new lodge.
Full details can be found here.
