Whether it’s the Heisman Trophy, the Nobel Prize, the Grammy’s, or an Olympic medal, awards are considered meaningful ways of recognizing outstanding people or feats. These awards all have one thing in common: they recognize people for their hard work and accomplishments. For many, it means everything and may be the thing that incentivizes them to go the extra mile: to continue to step up, and step forward.
As a result, many lodges create their own awards to recognize those leaders who have continued to dedicate themselves in service. These awards can help direct Arrowmen to events, training, and specific roles within a lodge that are important. It is a way for a lodge to incentivize event attendance, stepping into a leadership role, and, ultimately, it can indirectly increase the engagement of Arrowmen within a lodge.
One prominent example of this kind of award is a First Year Arrowman award. This award typically encourages Arrowmen to stay active in their unit and the Order of the Arrow in a number of different ways. Possible requirements include completing their journey to Brotherhood, participating in lodge meetings, attending fellowship events, and stepping into a leadership position. The Order of the Arrow website has an example of what the requirements for this award could look like from Tutelo Lodge.
“[This award] exists for new Arrowmen as a checklist and tutorial to return to and figure out what the OA journey involves,” stated the former Tsoiotsi Tsogalii Lodge Chief Nic Fillippa, whose lodge also uses a similar award.
Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan Lodge in Illinois also has a First Year Arrowman award, which they named the John B. Lichtenheld Award, in honor of a young Arrowman who passed away at the age of 13. It is an award in his memory to recognize young Arrowmen from throughout the lodge that have a dedication to service like John did. Each chapter can nominate one Arrowman during the eighteen month selection period to earn the award, which is presented at the lodge’s winter banquet.
Ma-Ja-Ka-Wan Lodge Chief Levi Adams stated, the “award has a positive impact on the lodge, especially through the youth that receive it, as a way to show that their efforts as a new member have not gone unnoticed, and it gives them the motivation to strive and pursue greater roles within the lodge.”
First Year Arrowmen Awards are specifically bestowed upon new Arrowmen, but lodges may want to recognize a large array of Arrowmen for a variety of service and roles. Kawida Lodge has three unique awards for recognizing their Arrowmen: the Uncas Award, the William ‘Bud’ Tobin Award, and the Mike Butcher Memorial Award.
The Uncas Award is given to youth and adults based on exceptional service to the lodge within a calendar year. It was inspired by the OA’s 100th anniversary Centurion Award. Arrowmen are nominated throughout the year and a youth committee is formed to select recipients who are honored at Kawida’s annual winter banquet. The William “Bud” Tobin Award was commissioned in 2007 in memory of William “Bud” Tobin, a leader in Kawida Lodge that coordinated the trading post for many years. He was someone who was always cheerful and willing to lend a helping hand to fellow Scouts and Scouter. This award is given to Arrowmen who embody his spirit in their daily lives. Similarly, the Mike Butcher Memorial Award is awarded to two Arrowmen who are “the year’s most outstanding youth members from Kawida Lodge.” Current E3 Section Chief and former Kawida Lodge Chief John Andrew Segebarth explained that recipients are those who live up to the memory of Mike Butcher, who was “the ideal Scout, Arrowman, and friend.” They have given the award in his honor every year since his passing in 1972 in recognition of an Arrowman’s selfless commitment to the Order of the Arrow and its purpose and intent. These awards are meant to honor those leaders that are not officially part of the lodge’s leadership team and presented to those who embody the values of each award’s history, not because of any conscious effort to earn them.
Tamegonit Lodge features a unique award system in the form of the Coup System. This system has been in place since 1971 and recognizes Arrowmen for participating in different ways within the lodge. There are different types of beads for different activities, types of service, awards, length of tenure, and levels of membership and each bead has meaning when worn. This is something that is incredibly incentivizing for younger Arrowmen as Section G6 chief Haley F. of Tamegonit Lodge stated.
“Coups serve as inspiration for younger scouts to strive in being chosen by their peers for our honor.”
She also points to the Coup beads as something that helps her lodge increase activation rates by giving immediate recognition and incentive to earn beads for new members. Arrowmen are attracted to serving a variety of roles in order to earn the different beads. The lodge also awards Scouts for things that they may have done before joining the lodge, such as camping at summer camp or becoming an Eagle Scout. The beads help the Arrowmen feel a sense of belonging by seeing others with similar beads. They can help start a conversation about the Order of the Arrow with new members and Scouts wanting to know more.
“Often many Arrowmen start off earning Coups to achieve an award, but many end up staying because they recognize the immense value this organization offers, which is so much more than a bead,“ stated Haley.
This system is one that incentivizes Scouts and recognizes their service in all of their Scouting activities, which is not found in many award systems. This type of unique award is also used by Osage, Nani-Ba-Zhu, Dzie Hauk, and Hi-Cha-Ko-Lo Lodges, which demonstrates the widespread effectiveness of these awards.
These are all unique ways lodges incentivize and recognize Arrowmen. First Year Arrowmen Awards provide a checklist for new Arrowmen and can incentivize them to get the most from the Order of the Arrow. The Coup system is a way for Arrowmen to display they’re experience in service in a unique way, but it also works as an incentive for Arrowmen to try and step into new positions to earn new coups. Other awards can highlight a dedication to service within a lodge that goes above and beyond what is asked and expected, or it can be a unique way to recognize the qualities that an Arrowman possesses within one of our fellow brothers. The lodges that have implemented these kinds of awards see a clear use for them, and see positive boosts in activation, Arrowmen retention, and dedication to service from Arrowmen because of them.