The past is calling! 

By Judy (Blase) Woodruff 

History defines the past and becomes the foundation for the present. It cannot be changed, but only built upon. It’s what the Camp Ondessonk Archives Room is all about. 

The Lodge of Ondessonk & Tekakwitha was loosely created from the Four Rivers Council of Boy Scout’s Indian Order of the White Feather originating in 1952 at Camp Pakentuck. This precursor to Camp’s early Lodge Ceremonies had many similarities to Ondessonk Lodge Ceremonies from the 1960s through the mid-1980s. 

As we try our best to preserve the history of Camp Ondessonk as well as that of the Lodge of Ondessonk & Tekakwitha, we are seeking items that would chronicle the story of our Lodge since its inception. We want to record and keep anything that would be of importance and place it in the Archives Room in the basement of St. Noel.

We need your help! Were you part of that first Lodge Ceremony? Did you influence the changes in the Lodge Ceremony in the mid- to late-1980s? Do you have an original script of that ceremony? Or were you part of the workgroup that updated the ceremony over the past five or so years? We want your notes and documents to preserve the origins, process, and evolution.

If you have items, records, Lodge by-laws, member rosters, costumes, or anything that would preserve the memories of the years since Lodge was started (which actually was 1957, begun at Camp St. Philip), please send me a text or email, and let me know what you have and if you would be willing to donate it to the Archives Room. I am looking for anything from 1957 through 2023!

Please reach me at judy.woodruff@ondessonk.com or 618-791-5655.

Click here to learn more about Camp Ondessonk’s Mission & History.

Click here to visit Camp Ondessonk’s Wikipedia Page.