• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
We Own Adventure

We Own Adventure

Scouting News for the DC Metro Area

  • Home
  • Newsletters
  • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Sport Adventures
  • Submit Your News
  • Be an Influencer!
  • Scouting America National Capital Area Council Main website

OA

Aquia OA Chapter Leaders Bring 2020 Virtual Flag Day to Life

June 26, 2020 by Mike Haas

All of us have been living the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic with many of this year’s annual spring and summer Scouting events being canceled. But, as Baden-Powell once said: “A Scout goes about with a smile on and whistling. It cheers [them] and cheers other people, especially in times of danger, for [a Scout] keeps it up all the same.” A Scout is Cheerful! All Scouts live this part of the Scout Law; Order of the Arrow Arrowmen are specifically committed to “Cheerful Service” and promise to “… seek to preserve a Cheerful Spirit” (excerpted from the Order of the Arrow Obligation).

And so, in true Scouting Spirit, the Arrowmen of the Aquia Chapter of the Amangamek-Wipit Lodge 470 of the Order of the Arrow (OA) cheerfully pressed on, looking for ways to uphold the OA’s commitment to community service. The Fredericksburg Luminary is the Chapter’s biggest service event leading into the summer months, followed by the Flag Day Ceremony at Quantico National Cemetery. The Luminary was really beyond a creative solution, but the Aquia OA leadership were determined to put their heads together to figure out a way to offer a virtual alternative to the Flag Day event.

A typical American Flag retirement ceremony is mostly centered around disposal – putting Old Glory to flames in a way that honors those U.S. Ensigns whose service life has ended and are no longer fit for public display (e.g., ripped, torn, frayed, faded, etc.). As an alternative, Aquia OA Advisors, Lorraine Lince and Karen Purinton offered the challenge of a virtual Flag Day event to the Chapter Chief and his team. Chapter Chief David Grabber and his Vice Chiefs Josh Floersheim, Michael Holliday and Sean Nodurft seized the opportunity and moved out smartly. They recruited fellow Aquia OA Arrowmen and family members to help produce various segments for their Flag Day video.

Enthusiasm was running high! The Scouts immediately began to come up with ideas that would both honor our Nation’s Flag and offer instruction, demonstration, and education to fellow Scouting families. Every level of Scouting incorporates a Scout’s Duty to Country. The OA leaders’ goal was to make it so any individual Scout or Scouting Unit would be able to use the video as a resource. Parents could use this at home with their Scouts and other family members as well. Since the idea began the last week of May, they only had about two weeks to hit their video’s targeted release date of June 14th, Flag Day – this included production and editing. Very ambitious!

For the virtual event, the OA leadership wanted to offer all Scouts information about the history of the American Flag itself and give information about how U.S. Flag care fits into advancements – ranks, belt loops and merit badges. The Chapter Officers decided that the first order of business was to demonstrate opening (Flag raising) and closing (Flag lowering) ceremonies, complete with appropriate bugle calls. Other elements included how to correctly fold the Flag, display the Flag, and show how to properly retire a Flag in a ceremony honoring its service to our Nation and Citizens. The Scouts also included “fun Flag facts” highlighting important dates and lesser known facts about our national ensign.

The biggest challenge was doing this virtually. Obviously, due to the on-going COVID-19 constraints, the Aquia OA team couldn’t work in person or as a group, so the collaboration had to be done completely via group phone calls and video conferences. Another challenge was that everyone had different devices that took videos in different ways – a real challenge when editing; but the team pressed on undaunted. A Google Drive was set up so that each participant/contributor could upload a video or slide from home. The Aquia OA Advisors then took all submissions and put them together into one presentation. It was successfully uploaded to the Aquia and Aquia OA Facebook pages on the target date for Flag Day, June 14, 2020 and shared at this link: https://youtu.be/qX6BQCQiY1E.

All in all, it was a great learning experience for the Scouts. They did a great job coming together as a team, working towards their common goal and they did a great job executing and overcoming the challenges caused by the pandemic. We are proud of them!

Filed Under: Scouting At Home Tagged With: Aquia, flag day, OA, scouting at home

OA Scouts Lead Interfaith Service

June 19, 2019 by Priscilla Martinez

OA Scouts led an interfaith service at the Order of the Arrow Conclave Northeast Regional Leadership Camp at Camp William B. Snyder. Scouts BSA members and adult leaders were there representing the Protestant, Latter-Day Saints, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and Sikh faiths. Thank you, Scouts, for showing that Duty to God touches all cultures!

Filed Under: At Camp, Scouting Programs Tagged With: Duty to God, Interfaith, OA, Reverent, Scouts BSA

Primary Sidebar

NCAC Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Latest Issue

TSD Summer '18 is on Issuu

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • October 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018

Follow Us!

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

You Might Also Like…

  • Director David Henrie Invites NCAC to Digital Movie Premiere

    August 26, 2020

  • Missing Summer Day Camp or Resident Camp?

    June 25, 2020

  • Microscope + Camping = FUN !!!

    June 15, 2020

  • Family – Fun – Flag – FOURTH!

    June 14, 2020

  • Guidance on Resuming In-Person Scouting Activities

    June 12, 2020

  • NCAC Scouting at Home 2020 Award for Unit Scouters!

    May 29, 2020

  • Introducing the NCAC Scouting at Home 2020 Award!

    May 11, 2020

  • NCAC Response to COVID-19

    April 4, 2020

  • Scouting At Home Challenge!

    March 19, 2020

  • Scout Service Center Closing

    March 17, 2020

  • Help Celebrate NCAC Camping Centennial at Camp Snyder’s Work Days for All

    March 5, 2020

  • General David L. Goldfein Receives the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award

    February 25, 2020

  • TUSKEGEE AIRMAN RECEIVES NCAC LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

    February 14, 2020

  • Aquia OA Chapter Leaders Bring 2020 Virtual Flag Day to Life

    June 26, 2020

  • OA Scouts Lead Interfaith Service

    June 19, 2019

Copyright © 2025 · Genesis Elk on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in