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What Happens at the NOAC?

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Dorm Life
Leadership Development
Founders' Day
Ceremonies Evaluation
Sports
Games and Competitions
Dance Competitions
Order of the Arrow History Museum
Region Gathering
Shows
Pizza

Dorm Life

Dorm life is an experience that the Scouts will never forget. The youth will be paired up in groups of two, and will be assigned a room to share. For the week, this is their living space! The Scouts are responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of the room, and for reporting any damage that occurs to the room prior to departing from NOAC. Each Scout will receive ONE key, and only one key. Keeping track of the key is their responsibility, as they will be fined (~ $50-$100) if they lose it. Also, on the day of departure, the Scouts sharing the room are in charge of cleaning up and removing all trash. All of this information also applies to adults.

Usually at NOAC, contingents typically organize themselves into smaller groups with one adult responsible for the whereabouts for 4 or so youth. Dorm dads are expected to have fun at NOAC, but make sure that their youth are not spinning out of control. They should check-in with their youth at the time of curfew, to ensure that all members of the contingent are following National and Campus policy. Each dorm dad can ask for his youth to check-in with him at designated times, to make sure that they are doing fine.

Curfew is usually midnight (12:00 am). Curfew is defined as the time that all members of the contingent, under the age of twenty-one years old, must be in the residence hall that contains their own dorm room.
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Leadership Development

Training will be one of the best experiences at NOAC for you. Training offerings include: Leadership Development, Lodge Operations, Indian Dance, Ceremonies, Outdoor Skills, just for Advisers, just for Lodge Chiefs, and more. Each member of your contingent will be able to register for classes before NOAC via the website. Since popular classes fill up fast, it is recommended that you encourage your contingent to sign up as soon as possible.

Each participant will get his personalized training schedule in his notebook when he arrives at NOAC. It is advised that before the first day of classes, each member of the contingent maps out where each of his classes will be held. Locating classrooms before sessions start helps prevent participants from being tardy and missing valuable information.

The training schedule will not be defined until Spring 2009.
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Founder's Day

Founder's Day is a full-day celebration that honors our founders, Dr. E. Urner Goodman and Colonel Carroll A. Edson. Historically, the day begins with the opening parade and progresses to the famed Goodman Games and the acclaimed Founder's Fair. All of the Regions, Sections, and lodges participate in honoring our foundational leaders and our Order's traditions.

Founder's Day Parade

The day opens with the National Chief and National Vice Chief leading the parade. Following are the Sections, then a representative from each lodge carrying the lodge's flap sign. The purpose of the parade is to jump start the excitement for the day. At the conclusion of the parade, each lodge is responsible for setting up their booth.

Goodman Games

In past NOAC's, the Goodman Games have been some of the most anticipated events at NOAC. In 2006, the Games harbored more than forty different stations –everything from log sawing to ring toss – was present at the Games. The Games provide a fun, unforgettable time for every Scout that attends.

Founder's Day Fair

The Founder's Day activities culminate in a huge fair where hundreds of lodges from across the country gather to showcase something unique to their area. At the Fair in 2006, lodges gave away many items including: bags of peanuts, water from Niagara Falls, lodge flaps, Frisbees, pads of paper, pencils, pens, Where to go Camping Guides, CDs, magazines, outdoor ethics packets, granite pieces, samples of food from their hometowns, and much more. Your lodge's booth can be whatever you want it to be. It can have (but is not limited to) information on local Scout camps, National Parks, local traditions, etc. It also can have interactive games with prizes, giveaways, music, video footage, or anything else that your contingent can fathom.

During the Founders' Day Fair, a Pow-Wow is also being held. This is a magnificent time to enjoy a spectacular view of dancing's athletic beauty. Anyone and everyone is invited to attend this event, as many different types of dances are being performed.

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Ceremony Evaluations

Ceremony evaluations are one of the most popular events of NOAC. The NOAC planning committee encourages teams of all experience levels to be evaluated by nationally accredited judges. The goal of ceremonies is to ensure that the candidate continues to cheerfully serve his fellow man, by putting into practice the meaning of the Obligation not only in the Order, but in all aspects of their life. NOAC ceremony evaluations are conducted to help teams improve ceremonial performance techniques and to help teams portray the messages of the Order of the Arrow to the candidate in a more efficient manner.

Usually, the Lodge Inductions and Ceremonial Events Committee selects one or two ceremonies to be evaluated at NOAC. If a ceremony team is determined to be an Honor Ceremony Team, each member will receive a medal. Guidelines will be published on the Order of the Arrow National website (www.event.oa-bsa.org) when they become available.

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Sports

Your lodge has many opportunities to participate in a variety of sports. If your team wins in a competition, your team can claim that they are the best team in the nation! Competitions are a great way to drag many youth members away from the stereotypical fun activities (i.e. patch trading, etc.) and to let them challenge their physical strength. Actually, many of the sport competitions do not require much practice (or skill, for that matter). At the 2006 NOAC, participants competed in:

  • 5K Run
  • Iron Arrowman – Scouts competed in all of the following five events to see who was the supreme Iron Arrowman
    • Water Relay
    • Wall Climb
    • Car Pull
    • 5K Run
    • Water Hold
  • Redneck Games – Everyone tested their skills in the Redneck Games to see how deep their redneck ties grew
    • Potato Sack Race
    • Three Leg Race
    • Bobbing for Pigs Feet
    • Cow Tipping
    • Cricket Spitting
    • Lawn Darts
    • Tire Toss
    • Discus
    • Fish Casting
    • Reverse Limbo
    • Hip Wader Relay
  • Volleyball
  • Basketball
  • Ultimate Frisbee
  • Flag Football
  • Kickball

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Games and Competitions

Like with sports, your lodge has many opportunities to participate in a variety of group wide games and competitions. Stay tuned for a complete list of the games as we get closer to NOAC.

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Dance Competitions

At NOAC, dancers of all ages and skill levels join together individually and in teams, rejoicing at the beat of a drum. Hundreds of dancers compete to become the best in the nation. While only one will be deemed the best, each dancer will test and compare their skills with those of others from around the country. Dancing is a time of fellowship that encourages everyone to take part in the traditions of the American Indian spirit. The five different categories of dances that dancers may compete in are: fancy feather, grass, straight, old style, and contemporary northern traditional. The top dancers in each category are selected to perform in the American Indian Theme show. Guidelines will be published on the Order of the Arrow National website (www.event.oa-bsa.org) when they become available.

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Order of the Arrow History Museum

The NOAC Museum includes displays that depict OA History, lodge histories and individual displays of various OA and Scouting historical significance. The Museum will also contain the National Chief and National Vice Chief bonnets, a historical presentation of the Founder, E. Urner Goodman, and two nationally recognized displays of OA sashes and Eagle medals. Other Scouting memorabilia such as old uniforms, literature and rank advancement will also be on display. The museums patch and historical memorabilia collection provide an unprecedented opportunity for patch-hounds and history buffs to drool over the rare displays. Many spend hours in the museum and fail to view all of the displays. This is truly an awesome place to visit for all Arrowmen.

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Region Gatherings

Each region has a gathering that offers Arrowmen the opportunity to meet with their Region Chief and his Adviser to get an update on what is happening in their Region, recognize worthy individuals, and have lots of fun! Usually a group wide game is played. At the Region Gathering in 2006, each participant is given identical pieces to a puzzle and have to trade with members of other regions (who have different puzzle pieces) to complete the puzzle.

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Shows

During NOAC, all staff and participants will attend four different shows in the main arena, usually the indoor gymnasium on the university campus. Each of these shows is unique in its own way. The first is a Welcoming Show with lots of guest speakers, the second is the Award Show where the Order's highest honors are awarded, the third is the Native American Show where a sampling of Native American Dancing is shown, and the final show is a Theme Show which is a full theater production with a script written and performed by Arrowmen actors and writers on the NOAC theme. These shows are always amazing and are usually the highlight for many Arrowmen as it is the only time all 8,000 participants and staff are together under the same roof. The energy in the room is almost beyond comprehension and it always proves to be one of the best parts of any NOAC.

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Pizza

The largest fad at NOAC is pizza. Thousands and thousands of pizzas are ordered through local pizzerias and major pizza chains. It is rumored that pizza companies make more money during the one week of NOAC, than any month. Pizza companies deliver straight to the dorm rooms, and offer amazing deals to Scouts. Spoof patches have been made in the past by Domino's Pizza and were offered to Arrowmen who ordered a certain amount of pizza. Do not be surprised to see piles of pizza boxes scattered about in each of the dorm rooms, but make sure that they are removed before the contingent leaves.

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Revised 10/30/2008

   

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