During July 25th-30th 2022, the National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC) was held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN. Dzie-Hauk Tonga Lodge took 13 of our very own arrowmen to represent us at the conference. The contingent left the scout office at 8am on Saturday the 23rd and was east bound and down! The group stopped for lunch right outside of St. Louis, MO. Chris Wagner graciously provided us with lunch and snacks for the road. Shortly after they travelled to the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site to explore Monks Mound. To end off the day, the group arrived at their KOA camp in Paducah, KY and ate some Mexican food for dinner. With a stop at Waffle House the next morning, they were back on the road! The next stop was in Franklin, TN to visit two Civil War houses: the Carter House and the Carnton House. By the end of the day the group arrived at their KOA camp just 20 minutes away from the University. Before arriving, the contingent did not miss the opportunity to stop at the beloved “Gas station” named Buc-ee’s. Dinner that night was a local ice cream shop called “The Chunky Monkey.”
The morning of the 25th was when the group arrived at Magnolia Hall, the dorm the group would be staying in for the week. After some time to unpack and rest, everyone decided to go out and explore a little and find some lunch. The first thing on the agenda for the event was the opening show. At 7:30 pm, almost 7,000 Arrowmen gathered at the campus’s arena to find their seats for the first show of the 2022 NOAC! Every show during the week was full of fun and exciting things. The second day started everyone cheering on Nick P. running in the Brotherhood 5k, followed by breakfast and everyone going to find their classes and activities. Everyone was spread out all day for most of the conference until they met back up for dinner every evening. Some notable things was the Adventure Central that took place on campus. There were many vendors, games, shooting ranges, crate stacking, zip lines, rock walls, log rolling, and so much more. Also throughout the week was the American Indian Affairs Competitions. Our very own Andrew K. competed in the Men’s Northern Traditional Competition and took 2nd place overall!!! The one event that quickly grew to be everyone’s favorite was patch trading. Everywhere you looked there was someone trading patches at almost every time of day. On Thursday night was our Gateway region gathering where they passed out trading cards and encouraged everyone to trade with each other. Later, they got to meet up with our fellow Section G6 members for some pizza. Also, on Thursday the National Council of Chiefs met to discuss topics regarding the future of our order and vote!
Eventually the conference came to an end and our group left Saturday morning and headed back towards Paducah, KY. Before we reached Paducah, the contingent stopped in Nashville to visit the Dukes of Hazard Museum, a Mall with a Bass Pro Shop for lunch, and finally a tour through the Ryman Auditorium. To finish off the trip they stopped at a nicer restaurant Saturday night for some steaks! Everyone arrived back at the scout office around 5pm on Sunday evening safe and sound. Hope to see you at NOAC 2024!
