My Son to NOAC

It's about time I share this story. One of the big events for our summer was Peter's first big "high adventure" experience. Ever since he was elected into the Order of the Arrow he's been wanting to do more and more within the brotherhood. At his tap out he heard about the National Order of the Arrow Conference and he came home and told us he wanted to go. His passion only increased over the next few months and he continued to get more and more active in the chapter. Many times he had a stronger desire to go to OA than to regular scout meetings

At the end of July his wait was over. He had gone up to summer came the weekend before so he could pass off his brotherhood test, so he could go to the national conference as a full-fledged brotherhood member.

Of course, a new adventure requires a new haircut.

We had started the "specialized" haircuts a few months ago with a diamond and then a star (for the Youth Trek). But if you're going to hang out with a few thousand Order of the Arrow brotheren, you must have an official "haircut." We had a good time giving him the haircut and I believe he had a great time at the conference.

He got to spend a week at Indiana University, going to events, taking part in activities, and just basically hanging out with a bunch of others who love the OA. The hair was a hit. In fact, he was included in one of videos they used each night to highlight the days activities. Peter even said that kids would come up to him and say "Hey.. you're the one with the haircut. I want to take my picture with you!!" He was a star! He learned about the fun of patch trading and came home with man OA flaps.. including one that lights up. Wow.. what differences from when I was a scout. He's now talking about patching trading at next year's Jamboree. And he's making plans to be part of NOAC in 2011.