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. Prior to that time, our council met each summer for camp at a propery
known as Camp Sangamo. During those years, a local Scouting society was formed
called the Tribe of Sangamo. Little is known of this society, with only scant
references found in period publications. 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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