Akela Festival

Once a year, the arrowmen of Orca Lodge put on an weekend event of fun and fellowship for the Webelos of Redwood Empire Council. The highlight of the weekend is the Arrow of Light ceremony at which the 2nd year Webelos recieve their Arrow of Light Award, and cross over into Boy Scouting. When the Webelos earn the Arrow of Light, it is a very meaningful and great award. This is one of the very few that can go on any of the scouting uniforms.

The 2009 Akela Fesival

On March 21st through March 23rd, 2009, the Order of the Arrow put on the Akela Festival at Penngrove Park in Penngrove, Ca.  We had 15-20 staff members attend, as well as 41 boys attend, 30 of which went through the ceremony to transfer into their respective troops.  The events that were part of morning activities were fire building, obstacle course, model campsite, vertigo, nature, and scout knowledge .  The events went great and in the afternoon we had different activities such as football, basketball, lacrosse, and archery.  The ceremony went great and despite the rain, everyone had a great time.  We also featured the first SOLO Akela Festival patch, which was given out to the scouts who attended, as well as staff, and were sold for $3 after the ceremony.  We are now in the process of revamping the Akela Festival, which means by next year, our projected goal is to have double to triple the amount of scouts (Webelos and Boy Scouts) attending, the possibility of adding new events, and maybe new additions to the ceremony regalia.  Tune in for later installments and updates for next year's Akela Festival!