2000's

Rome Invades, 2000

Y2K brought many things to Blue Heron Lodge. A Freeze-o-ree provided service to Camp Pipsico by having over 1400 scouts attended. This was followed by three ordeals and several Beaver Day’s along with lots of fundraising the camp was made ready for the summer. The road was temporarily repaired and the camp reopened for camping. Later at the Section Conclave all eyes were turned to defending the Spirit award, where Blue Heron had a procession into the Saturday show dressed in togas, and Roman attire. The lodge retained the award once again and did well in the competitions. The lodge also held a successful Fellowship where Past Chief Chad Wacker ran for Lodge Chief and won yet again, becoming the first Chief to ever have two non-consecutive terms of office.

An Emerald Anniversary, 2001

The Fifty-Fifth Anniversary of Blue Heron Lodge began at the Portsmouth Scottish Rite temple where Arrowmen met and were trained at the annual LLDC. The lodge held Freeze-o-ree setting another attendance record despite bad weather forecasts and prior snow. In March the first Ordeal was held and members and candidate alike worked hard to prepare the camp for the Section Conclave that the lodge would host at the end of April. The 2001 Conclave was held at Camp Pipsico, with over 800 participants taking part in the event. The lodge yet again retained its tile as the most spirited lodge in the section and had a second place finish in the Quest for the Golden Arrow. After Conclave the lodge set its goals for the rest of the year and looked forward to the 55th Anniversary which was approaching. The Lodge held its June Ordeal where the camp was prepared for the summer residents. Also the lodge broke ground on its newest project by digging the footers for the pump house. At Summer Camp over half of the staff were Arrow men which worked hard to give back what they had received. In August the lodge held its final Ordeal and broke down camp for the winter. The lodge also had members who participated in both staff and delegation at the National Jamboree. Finally the lodge looked to Fall Fellowship which was held in October. At the Fellowship the lodge celebrated it’s Emerald Anniversary through a weekend of fun and excitement and also the unavailing of a new patch. The new patch was a standard Octagon but with a green boarder and a 55th put on the bottom middle of the patch. Mike McCaughan was elected lodge Chief

A Brave Heart for Service, 2002

The year started off with an excellent LLDC chaired by Ben Ledger. At Section Conclave at camp Shenandoah, the lodge won for the 5th time in a row the Spirit Award. Not to mention, we awed the other lodges by “going Scot” (aka dressed up in kilts) for our Braveheart theme. In June, the lodge presented the newly completed pumphouse at Pipsico to Council. When NOAC hit Indiana University in July, the lodge was well represented both in its contingent and on staff. At the August Ordeal, the water main to the pumphouse broke, but that didn’t stop the lodge from putting on a good Ordeal. In September, 6 brothers attended the National Leadership Seminar in Brown Summit, North Carolina. A month later at the Fall Fellowship, 10 brothers received the Vigil Honor, among them our newly-elected lodge chief, Wes Sherman. The year finished off with the Holiday Banquet, at which Matt Goff received the Founder’s Award.

A year of completion, 2003

The 2003 lodge year started of with a great LLDC put on at Norview United Methodist Church on Saturday January 4th. The Freeze-o-ree was held and provided lots of needed service to the camp to help clean up after many ice storms over the winter. The pump house was finally finished at the end of summer and was dedicated to the members of Blue Heron Lodge at the Fall Fellowship. At the Fall Fellowship we had a low turn out mainly due to the recent Hurricane that swept through the area which will provide many service hours that will be needed up at camp. Wesley Parker was elected Lodge Chief and the business meeting that Sunday.