Illinek - A History of
Service
Illinek Lodge #132, is one of the oldest Order of the
Arrow lodges continuously chartered by the Boy Scouts of America. The lodge was
originally chartered on August 20, 1938, in Abraham Lincoln Council,
Springfield, Illlinois. At the time of its founding, the Order of the Arrow was
still an experimental program of the BSA. Several "honor camper / honor scout"
societies existed. Many were local to one or two councils and a few like the
Order of the Arrow was gaining wider acceptance. It is very likely that such a
local society existed in Abraham Lincoln Council; perhaps by the name "Tribe of
Sangamo" after a local camp by that name.
During the earliest years,
Illinek Lodge was signified by a Blackhawk totem. This was replaced by the
Cardinal which has remained through to today. The origins of the name "Illinek"
can be traced to the Algonquin Confederacy of our area; a word meaning "men".
Camp Illinek was founded in the late 1930s on land along the shores of
the then new Lake Springfield. Our lodge therefore took its name from Camp
Illinek. In these early years, our lodge played an active role in the growth of
the Order of the Arrow. In 1945, William E. Hoffman became our Supreme Chief of
the Fire and concurrently was very active at the National Lodge level. By 1948
the BSA had formally recognized the Order of the Arrow as its official honor
campers society. During this period, Illinek Lodge served at least once as the
"host service lodge" for the National Lodge gathering (what has today become
the National Order of the Arrow Conference). Our history is rich in service to
Scouting and our community.
The links below will take you to sections
which will help you to better understand our history of service. Of course gaps
in our story exist, which you can help us to fill in. If you have information,
documents or pictures that would help us better tell the story, please contact
us.
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