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Lodge Ledger: Brief History of the Order in the Nation's Capital - Amangamek-Wipit Lodge

  Kyle Brendel             Lodge Ledger

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The year was 1952 when Navy Captain Jack A. Obermeyer and Ralph P. Lutz founded Amangamek-Wipit Lodge. Prior to that, National Capital Area Council was home to the Clan of the Mystic Oak (CMO), a pre-OA society. Created at Camp Roosevelt in the summer of 1919, this society operated under principles similar to those of our Order.

The DC Metro area is densely populated and this has been apparent in lodge charter numbers. In recent years, Amangamek-Wipit has been among the largest lodges in the country, and has been the biggest a number of times. Last year's charter showed over 4500 registered Arrowmen in the over twenty chapters covering northern Virginia, the District of Columbia, and south Maryland. An average of 200 people make up each chapter of the lodge and each chapter holds their own ordeals and events.

Amangamek-Wipit Lodge has a rich history, with legacies left at all levels of the Order and Scouting. At the local level, Wipit has been privileged to provide service at Presidential Inaugurations through their lodge honor corps. At the 2013 Inauguration, over seventy Arrowmen converged on Washington, DC to provide more than one thousand hours of service in the White House Zone of the festivities. Arrowmen played key roles in bleacher management around the President's Booth and line control on White House Zone entrance streets.

Wipit was very fortunate to have had five area officers elected, two chiefs and three vice chiefs. Before the year 1973, the level on the organization chart above lodge was area. In the forty years since the realignment of areas into sections, twenty-seven section officers have been selected from the ranks of Amangamek-Wipit Lodge; twelve have been chief, six vice chief and nine the position of secretary.

Wipit has been home to three national officers of the Order. Matthew Hoag was Northeast Region Chief during the 75th Anniversary of the Order; Andrew Oh, the 1999 National Vice Chief, and Patrick Rooney was Northeast Region Chief in the same year as ArrowCorps5. Other youth have also served nationally in roles including National Bulletin Editor and National Order of the Arrow Conference Vice Chief.

The adults of this lodge have also served our Order with distinction. Two Region Chairmen came from the ranks of the Wipit, Dr. Kenneth P. Davis and Thomas E. Reddin. Davis has served in many capacities in the Order, starting in 1959 as lodge secretary/treasurer. He later served as lodge adviser and in 1974 took on the role of SouthEastern Chairman, cheerfully serving in that role for eight years. 1974 was also the year of his appointment to the National Order of the Arrow Committee ,of which he is still a member. Davis is one of the foremost authorities on our Order's history, and has written a number of books including the National Order of the Arrow's History Book.

Thomas Reddin was lodge chief in his youth and moved on to be a lodge and section adviser. He was in the first class of Founder's Award recipients in 1981 for Wipit. In 1986, Reddin was appointed to the National Order of the Arrow Committee, where he was a Vice Chairman for ten years. From 1987 to 2000, Thomas Reddin served the Northeast Region as Chairman and in 2010, he was the first recipient of the Arrowhead of Service Award, which is given to a member of the National Committee by the National OA Chairman.

Over the 61 years that Amangamek-Wipit has been in service, over 1700 members have been chosen for the Vigil honor, 85 Founder's Awards awarded, and 19 Arrowmen have been recognized with the OA Distinguished Service Award. As is evident, by no means has the complete history of pivotal Wipit Arrowmen or events been covered above. Amangamek-Wipit Lodge's proximity in the nation has given it an interesting history.

This article is part of a lodge history series leading up to the 100th Anniversary of the Order of the Arrow. As part of the celebration, each lodge is being asked to compile a lodge history. Will you take part in observing and preserving the traditions of the Order of the Arrow? If you're interested in helping out, more information is available in the 100th Anniversary Section for the Legacy Project.