In this email you will find:

• Feature Activity: The Goodman Open
• Program Update: Arrowmen Conservation School Now Accepting Applications
• Program Update: American Indian Activities
• Program Update: Activities and Recreation Notes
• Program Update: Training Registration
• Arrowmen in Action: Blazing a Trail
• Featured Trading Post Item: 2009 NOAC Toothpick Holder
• Reminder: Event Selection Now Open
• Reminder: Full Payment Due May 31
• Remember the Power of One
• Frequently Asked Questions

Dust off those clubs, practice your swing, and get ready for the fourth National Order of the Arrow Conference(R) Golf Tournament, The Goodman Open, to be held on Monday, August 3, 2009. This is an 18-hole scramble format tournament. If you missed the first three NOAC golf tournaments, here is your chance to compete against your brothers from all across the nation in what promises to be one of the most exciting and fun events at NOAC!

The tournament will be held at the Indiana University Golf Course. The cost to enter the tournament will be $45 for youth and $50 for adults; this includes green fees, cart, and many fabulous NOAC prizes. Teams will be randomly assigned into foursomes with a mix of youth and adults in each foursome. We will try and accommodate two persons who wish to golf together, but we cannot accept requests for all four players in a foursome. There will be prizes awarded for longest drive, closest to the pin, longest putt, etc.

To register for the NOAC golf tournament, select the Golf Tournament Menu Option on the registration Website, print the transmittal form, and send the form with your check to the national office. Your transmittal and check must be received no later than July 23, 2009. Space is limited, so be sure to reserve your spot early and join in on the fun!!!

The Arrowmen Conservation School is now accepting applications!

The Arrowmen Conservation School is open to any Arrowmen attending NOAC. However, individuals cannot apply to attend. Lodges must complete an application and send a three-person team to the program.

If you are interested in attending the Arrowmen Conservation School, please check with your lodge contingent leader. More information will be available on the NOAC event site, http://event.oa-bsa.org. If you have additional questions, contact acs@instructorcorps.com.

This year at NOAC, American Indian Activities is putting on quite a show. Come see dancers from across the nation compete in over seven different dancing styles, see how to craft your own items from expert crafters, and sit in on a class on just about anything American Indian related from dancing to singing. At the Indiana University campus we are located at the Tennis Pavilion for dancing and singing competitions. The Woodburn Building will house our administration office, training classes, and our American Indian trading post. We will be having a spectacular American Indian show Tuesday night featuring the top-ten dancers from each style in their final competition dance. Then our finale is the Founders Day Powwow where we will be hosting the largest powwow at NOAC. Come by and see us for some of the best dancing and crafting around.

For the first time at NOAC, the Activities and Recreation Committee presents the Nintendo-Wii tournament. This will feature bowling and tennis brackets for youth and adults. Don't forget to sign up for the round-robin style tournament and become the Order's first national Wii tournament champion!

You won't want to miss the Region-ball tournament! It will be just like any other game of dodge ball you've ever played, only with hundreds of players inside a college sports stadium. Who will be the champion - Northeast, Southern, Central, or Western? Come out and see!

Dust off your cowboy hat and spurs and attend the Grand Hodag. Once again spend the evening drinking root beer and enjoying free "Eats". This year in addition to a top name comedian, we will have a dunk tank and a mechanical bull. Yippee Kai Yea!! .....

While contingents are checking in on Saturday, they can stop by and donate non-perishable items. In turn, they will have the opportunity to take part in a "Car Bash". Take out all the frustrations of your long journey to Indiana with a sledge hammer on an old "junker". This event will key in on the power one person can have through their donation to the local food pantry.

As of April 1^st, delegates can log-on to the registration website and begin to select their preferences for training. All delegates should participate in training on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday mornings. Other optional training opportunities are available later in the day.

There are several different types of training that delegates can sign up for each morning. Most training sessions are 75 minutes in length and delegates can choose two sessions per morning. In some instances, there are individual sessions that last the entire morning. In addition, American Indian Activities also offers sessions every hour. There are even some classes that last all three mornings of training!

Some quick suggestions to make the most of your training experience:

• Take the time to put some thought into what sessions you might want to take. Be ready with some alternatives because many classes have capacity limits.
• If you plan to take American Indian Activities sessions (200 range), consider taking all of those sessions on the same day. That will maximize your available training options.
• If you don't know what sessions to take, speak to your lodge contingent leaders; they may have some suggestions for you. Consider what job you have in your chapter or lodge and find sessions that will help you be more effective in your role. Finally, if you are still stuck, consider trying something totally new and different.

The registration website has all the information you need about the sessions that are available. Be sure to check it out and happy training!

Most Arrowmen love to spend time hiking trails through the backcountry. But for Charlie Morgan, nothing is more fun than spending a day working on those trails. Charlie—an Eagle Scout and Brotherhood member of Occoneeche Lodge in North Carolina—devotes a good portion of his time to trail maintenance with the Friends of the Mountain to Sea Trail. The trail spans from the Blue Ridge Parkway, which cuts through the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, to the Atlantic Ocean on the other side of the state. Eventually, the trail will run all the way through the state and backpackers will be able to hike the entire thing, non-stop.

For Charlie, a typical day on the trail involves trail maintenance, like checking bridges and re-routing parts of the path that have been eaten away by erosion. He spends at least four or five hours a week keeping his part of the trail open and available for hikers. "It's very fun," says Charlie.

Even though the trail plays a big part in his life now, Charlie discovered it by accident. "My Mom got an invitation to a Friends of the Mountain to Sea Trail workday for one Saturday afternoon," Charlie explained. "Since I didn't have anything else to do, I decided to go with her." He took to the work immediately - so much so that the organization's president, fellow Arrowman Jeff Brewer, offered Charlie his own segment of the trail to maintain near Jordan Lake.

Working on the trail gives Charlie the satisfaction of giving back. "It's a good service for the community," he says. "You also learn a lot about the environment and all kinds of things about the outdoors." He's also been able to watch the organization grow. When Charlie started, the first workday he attended was only made up for five or six participants. Now, he says, sometimes hundreds of people show up to help build and maintain new sections of the trail. That's something Charlie enjoys, "I've watched it grow and grow."

And this nineteen year old isn't done building trails yet. "Working on my section of the trail motivates me to build more trail," he says. For each new stretch of trail Charlie builds, he'll use the Power of One. How will you use it?

This item features the 2009 NOAC logo on its face. Only $4! The logo will not be released until the event, so a toothpick holder from the 2007 NCLS is shown here.

This toothpick holder can be found at http://tradingpost.oa-bsa.org.

Beginning April 1, NOAC 2009 delegates can log-on to the registration Website and select their preferences for training, afternoon activities, competitions and other NOAC activities. Go to http://registration.oa-bsa.org to sign up.

The conference fee is $395.00 for youth and adult members who pay their total conference fee by May 31, 2009 (postmark date). Conference fees paid after May 31, 2009, will incur a $55.00 late fee (total $450.00). All late fees must be received by the OA Director no later than June 30, 2009. The conference fee includes five night's housing, 14 meals, program and support materials, registration materials, and recognition items during the six-day conference.

"Everything is something I decide to do, and there is nothing I have to do." - Denis Waitley

The answers to "Frequently Asked Questions" are on the NOAC Website at http://event.oa-bsa.org/events/n2009/faq.htm. Please send any questions regarding NOAC to nept@oa-bsa.org. Questions regarding your lodge contingent should be directed to your lodge contingent leader.