Kaskanampo Lodge #310 History
Some portions of this text are reprinted from the book "The History of the OA In Alabama" with permission from the author, Edward G. Rogers.
Some portions of this text are reprinted from the book "The History of the OA In Alabama" with permission from the author, Edward G. Rogers.
Kaskanampo Lodge #310 of the Tennessee Valley Council was chartered on July 11, 1945. Eighteen Scouts and Scouters were inducted into the Lodge at Camp Westmoreland near Florence, Alabama.
The name Kaskanampo, meaning "Men Warriors", comes from the Kosati Indians. The Lodge emblem, the mussel shell, was chosen because of the abundance of freshwater mussels, a mainstay of the Indian diet, in the area of the Tennessee Valley. The Lodge received their first emblem in 1950, just in time to be worn to the 1950 National Jamboree.
Kaskanampo earned high honors in many areas of competition at the 1965 National Order of the Arrow conference at Bloomington, Indiana. Kaskanampo earned the National Award of Excellence for Region five as part of the 1967 Onward Arrow Plan.
Kaskanampo has made significant contributions to the camps of the Tennessee Valley. At Camp Westmoreland the Lodge has constructed a chapel, picnic area, and a Waterfront. In 1967 the Lodge dedicated the O.A Lodge / Adult Training Center it constructed at Westmoreland. The lodge generally conducts one of their two yearly Ordeals at Camp Westmoreland.
At Camp Jackson near Scottsboro, the Lodge has done much work building campsites, hiking trails, a covered barbeque pit, and rebuilding the swimming and boating piers on the Tennessee River. The lodge raised money to buy the council office a computer to maintain the OA membership database. The Lodge has built a Trading Post / Pavillion and Lodge members were involved with the construction of a Health Lodge. More recently lodge members assisted in the revamping and enlargement of Program Shelter 2 into a full-sized dining hall. As a part of the preparations for the 1996 SR-8 Conclave, Kaskanampo Lodge razed and rebuilt the arena, and rebuilt the old dining hall into the George W. Smith O.A. Lodge and Training Center.
Kaskanampo was originally part of Area V-B and later Area V-D. These areas encompassed most of Tennessee as well as North Alabama, hence Kaskanampo was generally associated with Lodges from Tennessee, not Alabama. Kaskanampo hosted two area conferences as part of Area V-B in 1960 and 1964. Kaskanampo was added to SE-4A in 1973. SE-3 comprised of most of the State of Alabama, and it was in 1977 that Kaskanampo hosted the SE-4A Conclave at Camp Westmoreland. Also in that year Tim Kimbrell served as Section Chief of SE-4A. Tim Hall later served as Section chief of SE-4A in 1979. SE-4A was changed to SE-3 in 1981 which at this time comprised most of the State of Alabama as well as the Florida panhandle. Kaskanampo hosted the 1984 SE-3 Conclave at Camp Jackson, which by then was the council summer camp. Memories of this Conclave tell of a well planned and executed Conclave, but one wronght with rain and mud. Brennan Smith served as Vice Chief or SE-3 in 1988, and Michael Sutton served as Section Chief in 1989. SE-3 was expanded again in 1993 to include areas of West Georiga, and the new section was known as SR-8. Kaskanampo hosted the 1996 SR-8 Conclave at Camp Jackson.
Kaskanampo Lodge is divided into eight chapters to match the eight districts of the nine counties in the Tennessee Valley Council. Chapters are:
Chapter District Physical Central Current
Name Name Area City Membership
-------- ------------- -------------------------- -------------- ----------
Arapaho Arrowhead East Lawrence County Decatur 102
and Morgan County
Caddo Chickasaw South Madison County & Huntsville (S) 186
upper tip of Morgan County
Chiaha Jackson Jackson County Scottsboro 97
Kosati Cullman Cullman County Cullman 38
Menewa Lauderdale Lauderdale County Florence 52
Micco Creek North Madison County Huntsville (N) 80
Sequoyah Limestone Limestone County Athens 18
Yuchi Muscle Shoals Colbert County, Franklin Muscle Shoals 31
County, and West Lawrence
County
If you have information about Kaskanampo Lodge History, please send e-mail to:
e-mail :netsurfr@traveller.com
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