Section History
A BEAVER, SOME RIVERS, AND A STRONG TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE...
The story of Section NE-1B, as we understand it, began in 1988 with the restructuring of the Northeast Region and Area 1. The young section was brought to life by the spirit and enthusiasm of the following lodges:
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The Old NE-1A: The Old NE-1C: The Old NE-1E: |
*Merged to form Grand Monadnock Lodge of Nashua Valley Council. |
These lodges formed together in an experiment. Having left their old sections behind, they formed a new Brotherhood, and a new standard of excellence.
The new Section was off to a strong start, under the direction of new Chief Craig Donais. Jason Rachette and Jeff White served as co-Vice-Chiefs under Craig, and Sean Baldwin was the new Section Secretary. John Larney and Jim Stanton were appointed Section Advisers, and the Section Staff Adviser was Myron Rust.
In the Spring of 1992, the Region again reorganized, and the Section said good bye to Paugassett Lodge of Housatanic Council. Myron Rust resigned from his position as Section Staff Adviser, and Art Lobdell was appointed to replace him. Jim Stanton also decided to step down from his post as Associate Section Adviser, and Bob Sirhal was asked to fill that position.
In December of that same year, the current Section Chief, Brian Beaverstock was elected National Chief of the Order of the Arrow. In the Spring of 1993, former Chief Craig Donais was appointed as another Associate Section Adviser, thus ensuring that the youth would have the support they needed to succeed. Also that spring, despite protests from the new National Chief, the Section decided to make its mascot the Beaver. Along with this fuzzy woodland mascot came, our Section name Kittani, meaning "The Land of Many Rivers." In June, the excitement continued with a very successful conclave, which was covered by Scouting Magazine, and warranted national praise!
By the fall of 1994, the Region had once again realigned. This time we said farewell to Arcoon Lodge, as we welcomed our new brothers from the Northwest, Memsochet Lodge of the Great Trails Council. With this, Art Lobdell as a member Arcoon Lodge, resigned his post, and was replaced by Chris Harvey of Wincheck Lodge of the Narragansett Council.
Over the summer of 1995, the Area Director appointed Rick Poirier of Tisquantum Lodge of Old Colony Council, as the new Staff Adviser. Once again in the late spring of 1997, the Region realigned and, as a result, the Section said good-bye to our brothers from Tschitani Lodge of Connecticut Rivers Council.
Realignment in 2000 brought Tschitani Lodge back to Section NE-1B. John Larney stepped down as Section Adviser, assuming the post of Associate Section Adviser. Jeff Godley of Tschitani Lodge was appointed Section Adviser.
In 2002, Section Chief Gil Rogers introduced the Day of Service Program, which puts Arrowmen in their communities providing one day of service in each council area to the greater community. The Section Award of Merit was also created to recognize those members of the section of have provided distinguished service to NE-1B. The section website (www.ne1b.org) was also re-launched as a huge resource for Arrowmen.
In 2003, Rick Poirier stepped down as Staff Adviser, and was replaced by Bryan Thomas of Connecticut Rivers Council. Pat Boyd was also appointed to serve as an Associate Section Adviser. In the fall of 2003, Section NE-1B held the first Quality Lodge Summit, proving once again that NE-1B is on the forefront of service to its lodges.
In the spring of 2004, Section NE-1B re-launched www.ne1b.org, with new graphics and a much more userfriendly layout. This brought NE-1B’s website back to the top among section websites in the country.
In 2005, Bryan Thomas stepped down as Staff Adviser, and was replaced by Jason Dugan of Narragansett Council. Jeff Godley also stepped down as Section Adviser, and Associate Section Adviser Pat Boyd was appointed to be the new Section Adviser.
Again in late 2007, Section NE-1B re-launched www.ne1b.org converting the existing site into one powered by Drupal, a Content Management System, which allows all members of the section leadership to update the site without knowing any HTML.
A Region Reorganized
In the Spring of 2008, it was announced that the Northeast Region and Area 1 would be re-organized. Section Leadership announced at the 2008 Conclave that three lodges would be leaving the section to help form the new Section NE-2. Members of Allogagan Lodge of Pioneer Valley Council, Memsochet Lodge of Great Trails Council, and Tschitani Lodge of Connecticut Rivers Council attended their last conclaves in NE-1B.
This also meant the departure of Section Adviser Pat Boyd of Tschitani Lodge. Former Section Chief, Associate Section Adviser, and Grand Monadnock Lodge Adviser Branden Morris was appointed by Area Director Dick Trier to lead the new section as their Adviser. Associate Section Adviser John Larney also steped down after many years of service, and former Section Chief Andy Collins of Grand Monadnock Lodge was announced to be an Associate Section Adviser.
At Conclave 2010, held at Camp Squanto, Bob Sirhal and Andy Collins stepped down as Associate Section Advisers. Dave Paulson of Tulpe Lodge was appointed by Area Director Dick Trier to serve as the new Associate Section Adviser. The first Chief's Award of Mentorship was also presented at the close of this Conclave to Bob Sirhal by three-term Section Chief Greg Burke.
Today, Section NE-1B continues the strong tradition, having earned the Quality Section Section Award for 15 years in a row.
Our Section Chiefs have been:
Craig Donais (June, 1988 - June, 1990)Brian Beaverstock (June, 1990 - December, 1992)Branden Morris (January, 1993 - June, 1996)Jason Kuder (June, 1996 - December, 1997)Mark Hogan (January, 1998 - June, 2000)Pat Boyd (June, 2000 - December, 2000)Dan Burgoyne (January, 2001 - June, 2001)Gil Rogers (June, 2001 - June, 2004)Dan O'Rourke (June, 2004 - December, 2004)Andy Collins (January, 2005 - June, 2006)Mike Shea (June, 2006 - June, 2007)Greg Burke (June, 2007 - June, 2010)Adam Hoy (June, 2010 - Present)Our Section also proudly boast five Northeast Region Chiefs:
Jim Stanton (1982-1984)John Gutkowski (1988)Jason Kuder (1998)Pat Boyd (2001)Dan O'Rourke (2005)
Three National Chiefs of the Order of the Arrow have also come from our Section:
Steve Mimnaugh (1984-1985)Dave Erb (1986-1987)Brian Beaverstock (1993)
Five Vice Chiefs for National Programs have also come from our Section:
Craig Donais (CVC of Training, NOAC 1990)Branden Morris (CVC of Training, NOAC 1995, 1996)Gil Rogers (CVC of Training, NOAC 2004)Andy Collins (CVC of NOAC Live! Web Services, NOAC 2006) Greg Burke (Lodge Leadership Development Task Force Chief, 2010)
Also, Section NE-1B is proud to congratulate twenty-eight of our brothers who have been awarded the National Order of the Arrow Distinguished Service Award:
Carrol A. Edson (1940)
John C. Norsk (1948)
Norman Wood (1952)
Richard R. McGee (1961)
Harris M. Tanner (1967)
Frederick J. Peters (1969)
Douglas Fleury (1973)
Richard E. Gingras (1981)
James B. Stanton (1986)
Steve Mimnaugh (1986)
Joseph P. Gareri (1986)
John Perry (1988)
David A. Erb (1988)
C. Randy Piland (1990)
John T. Gutkowski (1990)
Craig S. Donais (1992)
Brian Beaverstock (1994)
John P. Larney (1994)
Branden Morris (1996)
Bob Sirhal (2000)
Patrick S. Boyd (2002)
Mark F. Hogan (2002)
David Moskel (2004)
Gilbert R. Rogers III (2006)
Daniel J. O'Rourke (2006)
Jeffery R. Godley (2006)
...And so the experiment continues, constantly proving that Section NE-1B is Truly A Brotherhood!
