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ArrowCorps5 makes its mark in Bath County
By Cynthia B. Coleman • Staff writer
 | | The ArrowCorps5 Boy Scouts were taught to use a surveyor's level by Dave Armstrong, forest service engineer, as the scouts themselves surveyed the area and leveled the camping pads. Arrowmen backfilling the graveled pad walls are (l-r): Chris Puffenbarger of Yorktown, Va.; Ramón Rivera of Tallahassee, Fla.; Ed Hotel of Virginia Beach; and Travis Cunningham of Warren, Pa. |
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LAKE MOOMAW - During the week of June 21-28, more than 700 Boy Scouts of America descended into the Alleghany Highlands, prepared - as they are always prepared - to work with the United States Forest Service in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest.
The young men who worked on this national service project - with one group headquartered at the Scout camp in Goshen and the other at Lake Moomaw - were not just regular Boy Scouts. These young men, and the adults also, are members of the BSA's honor society, The Order of the Arrow.
Since last fall, the OA has worked with the United States Forest Service to find projects the members could work on that would satisfy the missions of both the forest service and OA. The forest service submitted 15 possible projects, but the OA decided to concentrate on five projects in order to complete five projects in five weeks with 5,000 Arrowmen. Thus, ArrowCorps5 was created.
 | | Right: Jack O'Neill (c), a member of the instructor corps and who trained at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico two weeks prior to ArrowCorps5, explains how the Lakeside Trail was built and the ways, at this particular spot, to protect it from runoff after a heavy rainfall. (Recorder photos by Cynthia B. Coleman) |
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The George Washington and Jefferson Forest project was divided into two operational districts - the James River District located in Covington and the Warm Spring District located in Warm Springs. The scouts either camped in Goshen or in Bath County at the Lake Moomaw campground; out of the 700 scouts, 154 were stationed at Lake Moomaw.
The Order of the Arrow is the BSA's National Honor Society, with a fourfold purpose to recognize Scout campers who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives, develop and maintain camping traditions and spirit, promote Scout camping, and to crystallize the Scout habit of helpfulness into a life purpose of leadership in cheerful service to others.
"We are the brotherhood of cheerful service," said Jake Wellman, OA's national chief. "The service we are doing this week is obvious, and so is the brotherhood … As far as the cheerfulness - I played a large role in developing this (with others), but my role this week has shifted to more the morale of going out and working with the guys, recreating with them, making sure they work hard and have fun."
To become a member of OA, a scout - or an adult - must go through an induction ceremony, called the Ordeal, which is the first step toward full membership. During the ordeal, candidates maintain silence, receive small amounts of food, work on camp improvement projects and are required to sleep alone, apart from other campers. The entire experience is designed to teach significant values.
"The ordeal silence represents the time when a leader would be alone," said Dustin Graves, an OA officer and manager of the Lake Moomaw/Warm Springs projects. "It is a leadership building experience."
Some of the youth at Lake Moomaw had only recently completed the steps toward full membership into OA, while others had gone through their ordeal and the other steps when they were 11 or 12. The ArrowCorp5 scouts ranged in age from middle school to college.
Adults also join this honor society and again, some of the older men had gone through their ordeal as a youth, while others had completed the steps in their 30s, 40s or 50s. Adults are selected to join OA based on the ability to help the Order of the Arrow fulfill it purpose and to provide a positive role model for the younger scouts. To become a full member of OA, a scout or an adult must fulfill 10 months of service. Members are known as Arrowmen.
The George Washington and Jefferson National Forest ArrowCorps5 project was the only service project east of the Mississippi River. The other four projects, ranging from early June to early August, are the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri, Manti-La Sal National Forest in Utah, Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California and the Bridger- Teton National Forest in Wyoming. The Virginia project fell in the middle of the project dates.
The new Sugar Ridge Campground at the lake had two areas the Arrowmen worked on: six new walk-in campsites and a lakeside trail designed to be family accessible. According to Lorainne Thomas, the national forest service ranger in charge of recreation, the Arrowmen got everything done in the allotted time. "The project was 100 percent complete and it was done well," she said, adding, "It was an all around success."
OA officers completed two weeks of training before arriving in Virginia and received further onsite training from the forest service or adult Arrowmen. Crews who worked on the six tent pads learned from an engineer how to use a surveyor's level and how to properly frame a pad, provide a solid base, pour in pea gravel and rake the gravel level using a system of rods and a taut string.
While the pads required heavy-duty equipment such as rollers to tamp the gravel, the trails were created with scout sweat equity. Jack O'Neil trained at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, learning how to build trails properly.
"What we are standing on is the tread," he said as he guided those present during last Wednesday's Media Day. "The tread or path is two to three feet deep and is built to slow water drainage and is more family oriented."
Then pointing out the Lakeside trail's features, O'Neill continued, "We have a back slope and then there is an up slope and a down slope. This crew is cleaning out debris along the critical edge. The critical edge is where the tread meets the down slope. It is important to make that firm. If not, people will walk on the false edge and can lead to erosion on the trail and make the trail smaller."
To also help stop erosion, the Arrowmen dug an area into one of the switchbacks and lined it with bits of shale found in the shallow water nearby. "It is like a French drain," O'Neil said, explaining such a drain redirects water away from the trail and off into the woods.
Another crew nearby worked to dig shallow trenches horizontally into the trail and then installing shaved, yardlong logs called a water bars. These logs or bars help with erosion and divert water off the trail. As one Arrowman worked to shave a log, O'Neill told him the log was a bit too soft, perhaps a rotting too quickly and sent him off to find another log to work with.
As soon as the lunch bell rang, the Arrowmen jumped up from their duties to walk single file towards the dining area, which was overseen by Jeffery Irving of Virginia Beach and his staff of eight. Irving, who is retired, has served the BSA by cooking meals from Jamborees to those on canoe trips. Having cooked for scouts for over 30 years, he has the job down pat as well as the equipment to service so many scouts in the field.
The Arrowmen did not eat meals cooked over a campfire, nor did their diet consist of only hot dogs and baked beans. In this brotherhood of service, Irving brought in generators, portable commercial ovens and a refrigerated truck to store food for the week. "We get fresh baked bread every day," said many Arrowmen whenever the conversation turned toward food.
"I will use more than 100 pounds of flour for the week." Irving said as he pulled out two racks of yeast rolls from the ovens. Roasting in another set of ovens were three very large roast beefs, each encrusted with various herbs. Strawberry shortcake was on the menu for dessert that night. During their lunch break, the men, young and old, were silent as they ate Philly cheese steaks or hot eggplant Parmesan subs.
Order of the Arrow members belong to lodges and the OA has more than 176,000 members located in lodges affiliated with more than 300 BSA local councils. The purpose of the OA lodge is to achieve positive youth leadership through the guidance of capable adults. District Ranger Patrick Sheridan summed up OA's Warm Springs District project. "They did a superior job with superior kids."
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