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Service Lodge Gets the Job Done

Their day starts bright and early at 5:30 a.m. They do most of the running around, finding the needed items and doing the odd jobs at the National Conference. They work 12 to 18 hour days. They arrived long before the rest of the staff and will leave long after the participants go home.

They are the members of Pellissippi Lodge 230, the service lodge for the 2000 NOAC.

So what does the service lodge actually do?

Just about everything.

In its office, there is a large, white status board that tracks the service lodge’s daily tasks. And the tasks are many.

Some of the service lodge members are runners who carry papers and other items to trainers to help them in their presentations. Others help set up and take down the booths and other facilities scattered across the conference. Some members provide water and supplies to areas all over NOAC. They have some major responsibilities.

The typical workday starts before sunup when John , the lodge’s NOAC chair, and James, the lodge chief, arrive at their office in the basement of Reese Hall. Since the staffers received their assignments the night before, everyone knows what they have to do.

There are basic duties that need to be taken care of everyday, such as delivering the newspaper. After the basic jobs are done, the service lodge has a list of jobs it needs to accomplish. This list can run 12 pages long, but the tasks usually are completed before lunch. After that, the service lodge does other jobs, such as helping to set up the stage for the evening shows.

As if these jobs aren’t enough, calls come in hourly requiring Pellissippi’s help. More than half of these calls are requests for things that must be located and transported. These calls are handled in the order they are received.

In a typical day, the service lodge will find mouse traps for the camping and high adventure committee, paper cups for administrative services, cotton twine for competition and recreation, a bulletin board for American Indian events, and printers for the communications committee.

The list goes is endless.

So who makes sure that the service lodge gets all its work done? It’s up to John and James.

James was appointed more than a year ago and has since worked to gather a staff to keep things running smoothly. Then there’s Josh, who helps organize the staffers and assigns them jobs. Last, but not least, is John, who helps gather material needed for all the different jobs. These young men are in charge of making sure the service lodge does its job.

The service lodge does all the small things that need to get done to make NOAC possible. It may be a big job, but Pellissippi Lodge is up to it.