Hello brothers,
Our Council of Chiefs meeting on November 12th is rapidly approaching and the excitement for the year ahead is building! Earlier this month, you received the 2017 Dixie Fellowship Proposal and by now, you have hopefully had a chance to look through the document.
Our Scout Motto is “Be Prepared” and this year, we were very happy to release the Proposal much earlier than it has been in the past! In order to better assist you in digging through the massive document, the most notable changes from Dixie 2016 are outlined below:
1. Graphics and new formatting added throughout Proposal document to “spice” it up
2. Section Seminar to be held immediately prior to COC business meeting (see page 6)
3. Dixie Preview to be hosted by service lodge after COC business meeting
4. March 15th – $25 per delegate balance of registration due (see page 10)
5. Barstow has camping arrangements available for tent, adirondack, and hammock camping
6. This Dixie will be more “green” than past Dixie Fellowships (see page 13)
7. The Dixie Expo will be hosted on Friday between 4 and 8 pm before the opening show (see page 15)
8. The Dixie Grand Fair will be hosted after the opening show and judges’ meetings (see page 16)
9. A Vigil Rededication will be hosted on Sunday morning (see page 17)
10. An option for pre-ordering Dixie memorabilia online will now be available (see page 19)
11. The Section SR-5 Key 3 has permitted the service lodge to sell a unique SR-5 belt buckle as a part of pre-orders (see page 21)
12. Egg Toss is now an event hosted by the section (see page 36)
13. New Quest Events: Shotgun Shooting and the War Canoe Race
14. There will be a mandatory safety briefing for field sports competitions (see page 24)
15. Lodge NEXT Guide will replace the WTGC Guide competition (see page 80)
16. Honor Lodge recognition no longer requires JTE recognition (see page 84)
17. DYLC training included as an option for Honor Lodge recognition (see page 84)
18. Social media and Grand Fair added to Honor Lodge Petition (see page 86)
19. Be sure to examine the list of memorabilia and the budget (there are many changes here)
COC Food Arrangements
In order to assist the Service Lodge in planning for food and attendance, please fill out the form here (https://goo.gl/forms/fIBWlDtRx1htEOE42). Please fill this form out no later than November 8, 2016. Anyone that is attending the COC should sign up on this form.
Section Seminar and Dixie Preview
To start off the day at 10:00 AM, a special Section Seminar will be hosted in order to allow our lodges to share best practices with one another. After this forum concludes, there will be a brief break and we will transition into the Council of Chiefs business meeting. Finally, we will conclude the day with an exciting Dixie Preview hosted by Muscogee Lodge.
Five Feathers
It’s HOT off the press! Section Secretary Stuart Park recently published the fall edition of the Five Feathers. You can read it here:
Please be sure to share it with your lodges and if you would like anything to be featured in the winter edition, please reach out to Stuart.
Spirit at Dixie
Our Section Vice Chief, Nick Zanzot, wishes to emphasize the importance of spirit and its vital role at Dixie. This year, the section officers would like to challenge each lodge to come to Dixie with out-of-the-box themes and for everyone to go all out with their themes throughout the duration of the weekend. Whether it’s spirit battles at meal assemblies or getting the mascots and flags to go all over the place, we expect that this Dixie at Camp Barstow will take spirit to the next level!
Final Reminders
This weekend, we’ve enjoyed an incredible time of fellowship with our Santee brothers at Camp Coker and we’re thrilled to visit Skyuka next weekend. The countdown for Dixie is on and we cannot wait to see everyone at the COC meeting on November 12th!
Until we all gather at Barstow very soon, remember to keep the Arrow aimed high! Your SR-5 Section Officers are dedicated to cheerfully serve our brothers all across our section and as always, please do not ever hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. WWW
With excitement for the trail ahead,
Matthew Watson | SR-5 Section Chief