Kaskanampo Lodge
From The Scout History Wiki
| Kaskanampo Lodge | |
|---|---|
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| Totem | Freshwater Mussel Shell |
| Council | Tennessee Valley Council |
| City | Huntsville, AL |
Kaskanampo Lodge #310 was the Order of the Arrow lodge associated with the Tennessee Valley Council #658 of the Boy Scouts of America and was headquartered in Huntsville, AL. For a short time, Kaskanampo was one of three lodges chartered to the Greater Alabama Council #1.
Kaskanampo's lodge totem was the freshwater mussel shell, which was a staple of the native American diet in the Tennessee Valley. The name Kaskanampo means "men warriors" and comes from the Koasasti tribe of native American indians.
In 2000, Kaskanamp Lodge was merged with Cherokee Lodge #50 and Achunanchi Lodge #135 to form Coosa Lodge #50.
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[edit] Lodge History
Kaskanampo Lodge was originally chartered by the Tennessee Valley Council on July 11, 1945. That year, 18 Scouts and Scouters were inducted at Camp Westmoreland near Florence, Alabama. The lodge was named after a tribe of Koasati Indians native to the area. Kaskanampo translated means “Men Warriors”. The lodge chose the Mussel Shell as their totem due to the abundance of the freshwater mussels in the Tennessee Valley and their importance to the Native Americans of the area. The lodge was quartered at Camp Westmoreland with the completion of the OA Lodge / Training Center building in 1967.
Eighteen Charter Members of the lodge were inducted at Camp Westmoreland on July 8, 1945. Ittawamba Lodge 235 from Jackson, Tennessee, inducted these new candidates. The Charter Members of the lodge include:
Mr. Henry Chase, Mr. Charles Coldiron, Mr. Clyde Hatalen,Mr. Robert McWright, Mr. Tom Reynolds – Scout Executive, Cole Alexander, Leonard Beard, Dick Brown, A. J. Coleman, Marshall Duke, Henry Foyer, Jimmy Hatley, Carlyle Hedden, Johnny Logan, James Lovelace, Karl Mittwede, Weldon Shannon, Charles Thomas
Kaskanampo Lodge 310 was a Charter Member of Area V-B and was later a member of Area V-D, Southeast Section 4-A and Southern Region 8. The lodge hosted Conclaves in 1949, 55, 60, 64, 70, 77, 84 and 96. The lodge received the 1967 National Award for Excellence, 1970 & 71 National Standard Lodge Award, 1971 E. Urner Goodman Camping Award and the 1987 National Honor Lodge.
The lodge was divided into eight Chapters –Arapaho, Caddo, Chiaha, Kosati, Menewa, Micco, Sequoyah and Yuchi to represent the nine counties of the Tennessee Valley Council #659. After 55 years of distinguished service, Kaskanampo merged with Cherokee 50 and Achunanchi 135 in 1999 to form Coosa Lodge 50 of the Greater Alabama Council.
[edit] Lodge Chiefs
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1940s
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1960s
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1980s
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[edit] Section Chiefs
In its history, Kaskanampo Lodge had six of its members elected as Area/Section Chiefs.
- 1955: Bill Bowen - Area V-B Chief
- 1960: Robert Womack - Area V-B Chief
- 1965: Morgan Weed - Area V-B Chief**
- 1966: Terry Stull - Area V-D Chief
- 1977: Jim Kimbrell - Section SE-4A
- 1979: Tim Hall - Section SE-4A
- 1990: Mike Sutton
- Morgan Weed was initiated into Cowikee Lodge and served as Lodge Chief and Area V-A Chief in 1962 before moving with his family to Decatur, Alabama. When elected the Area V-B Chief he was serving as the Vice Chief of Kaskanampo 310. He graduated from Athens College and served as a 1st Lieutenant in Vietnam where he was KIA in May 1970. The Lodge in his honor started to annually bestow upon the Top Chapter, "The Morgan Weed Best Chapter Award". On Veterans Day weekend in November 2007, the Camp Westmoreland Camping Committee voted to name the Kaskanampo Lodge Building in honor of his service - "Morgan Weed Lodge".
[edit] Vigil Honor Recipients
- Main article: Kaskanampo Lodge Vigil Honor Recipients
[edit] Founder's Award
Kaskanampo Lodge bestowed the Founder's Award upon the following of its members:
- 1984: Barry Oxley, Jeff Gothard
- 1988: Ray LeCroix
- 1989: Brennan Smith, Mr. Don Burt
- 1990: Dan Seymour, Mr. Lynn Hagen
- 1991: Chip DeRamas, Mr. Dennis Morgan
- 1992: Chris Hooie, Mr. Walt Whitacer
- 1993: Jason Lindsy, Mr. George Smith
- 1994: Lance Putnam, Mr. Hal Swartz
- 1995: Sam Hetrick, Mr. W. Hetrick
- 1996: Robby Thomas, Mr. Richard Willhite
- 1997: Bran Skipper, Mr. Jimmy Harris
- 1998: Dan Watson, Mr. Dennis Quintavalle
- 1999: Daniel Hodge, Mr. ________ ________
NOTE: 1999 needs to be filled in.
[edit] Distinguished Service Award
It its history, two members of Kaskanampo Lodge were presented with the Distinguished Service Award.
- Morgan Weed (1965)
- William C. Ingersoll (1969)
[edit] Trivia
- The Lodge produced several Newsletters over the years including “The Kaskanampo”; “Among the Kaskanampo”; and “The Mussel Shell”
- Kaskanampo published a yearly Guidebook called "Where to Go Hiking & Camping"
- The original Lodge Flap issued in 1950 had as it's totem a Brown Mussel Shell. Hardly looking like a Mussel Shell, the lodge members quickly deemed it the "Cowpile" for what it really resembled. Today the F1a & F1b are highly prized lodge collectibles.
- Ittawamba Lodge 235 of Jackson, Tennessee conducted the initial Ordeal ceremony on July 8, 1945 at Camp Westmoreland near Florence, Alabama. The Lodge never really took root and Ittawamba Lodge returned in 1948 to conduct another Ordeal ceremony to help re-establish the Lodge.
- The first Vigil Members of the Lodge were Mr. Robert Haskins - Tennessee Valley Council Scout Executive and Jimmy Brown initiated on June 29, 1957.
- Conclaves & Conferences were held in the following locations: 1949 - Huntsville & Monte Sano State Park; 1955 - Camp Westmoreland; 1960 - Camp Westmoreland; 1964 - Redstone Arsenal; 1970 - Camp Jackson; 1977 - Camp Westmoreland; 1984 - Camp Jackson; 1996 - Camp Jackson.
