The Crane Newsletter September 2014

The Official Publication of Tarhe Lodge

Providing Cheerful Service to Tecumseh Council since 1945!

CHIEFLY SPEAKING

Greetings Arrowmen! It is my

pleasure to be able to speak to

you as your chief for the sec-

ond time! It seems like only

yesterday we were at Section

Conclave and electing our new

section officers. For those who

do not know me, my name is Maxwell Schrimpf

and I am your 2014-2015 Lodge Chief! I am hon-

ored and very excited for what lies ahead for the

lodge. Since we have launched our Scoutlander

website we are trying to get everyone access, so

those of you who have not provided us with a valid

email address, please do!! We want you to know

when the events are! Also, to access the member

pages of the website you must be current on your

yearly dues and we have many members who are

not! Get ahead of the game and pay for next year!

They are $15/year! As we move through the end of

the year and into the year of our centennial, the

lodge will start to really focus on the big event of

the year, NOAC! Make sure you have a spot to go

to NOAC by putting down a payment at the Coun-

cil Office. For the 100th anniversary of the Order,

the National Committee has released a Centennial

Service Award and it is one of only a select few

patches that can be worn on the sash. We want

every Arrowman to earn this! It isn’t hard and eve-

ryone is capable of earning it. You can find the

PDF on Scoutlander or on the national OA website.

Getting back to Conclave, we want your ideas for a

theme for Conclave 2015! If you have a thought or

idea, send them to us at: chief@tarhe292.org! We

want to hear from you! I hope that your experiences

with the lodge are positive ones and I look forward

to serving you this year!

WWW,

Maxwell Schrimpf

Lodge Elections

Congratulations to our new Tarhe Lodge Officers!

Chief ~ Maxwell Schrimpf Vice Chief ~ Stephen Enochian

Secretary ~ Nick Allen Treasurer ~ Alex Tisler

TARHE LODGE CALENDAR

EVENT DATE LOCATION

LOS Oct 10-12 Camp Cricket Holler

NLS/NLATS Oct 10 - 12 Camp Lake, WI

LLD Nov 8 Camp Birch

ALTC Dec 5-7 Camp Friedlander

Tecumseh Council Univ Jan 10 Green Co Career

Recognition Dinner Jan 17 TBA

Winter Lock-In Feb 27 TBA

NOAC Aug 3-8, 2015 Michigan State Univ

2014 LEC CALENDAR

Oct 12, 2014 - Camp Birch

Nov 9, 2014 - Camp Birch

Dec 14, 2014 - Camp Birch

Jan 17, 2015 - TBA

Feb 27, 2015 - TBA

Mar 8, 2015 - Camp Birch

Apr 12, 2015 - Camp Birch

Knots Cartoonist

Rich Diesslin, in addition to being an eagle scout and OA brotherhood member,

is a fulltime, syndicated cartoonist and author doing what cartoonists do - mixing hu-

mor, topics of interest and silly drawings to create cartoons. He has three primary

areas of cartooning – 1) General (Out to Lunch series), 2) Christian (Cartoon Gospel

and Religious Light series) and 3) Scouting cartoons (KNOTS or Not Scout Cartoons

series). Out to Lunch cartoons are also syndicated and beginning to appear in more

and more weekly newspapers. However, Rich also keeps busy on freelance projects

for the U.S. Scouting Service Project, various book publishing, The Jamboree Today Boy Scout Jamboree online

newspaper, and others.

In a recent interview, Rich had this to say:

How long have you been in Scouting? In Order of the Arrow?

I started out in cub scouts in the early 1960s when there were no tigers,

but there were lions. Even though that spans about 50 years, I have

probably been active for a little over 30 years as a scout and a leader. I

was elected into the order of the arrow in 1970 and earned my eagle

scout in 1972. I was a brotherhood member as a scout but, not remem-

bering that and badly needing a refresher in OA, I completed my Broth-

erhood again as an adult in the Tarhe lodge in 2004.

We heard you still sometimes wear your old Scout uniform shirt. Is

there a special reason?

True. I'd like to say it is because I exemplify the scout law "thrifty" but

in actual fact my mom probably gets the credit for it. In 1971 I was going to be on scout summer camp staff at

Cary Camp in Indiana. I needed some new scout shirts and the place you bought scout supplies at that time was JC

Penneys. They only had large shirts in stock and even though I probably needed a small, large is what we got. My

mom managed to save most of my scout stuff until I had kids ready for scouts. So, I simply updated my old shirts,

which now fit me, along with an old shirt of my dad's and brothers. I didn't need any more shirts, so I wore those

shirts until two wore out and the other two are now for occasional use!

How many Jamborees have you attended?

I've attended 4 jamborees. The first was as an assistant scoutmaster for the Tecumseh Council troop in 2001 and in

2005, 2010 and 2013 I went as the staff cartoonist for the Jamboree Today newspaper. I hope to go again in 2017.

What is the favorite thing you did and at which Jamboree?

At the 2013 Jamboree about the only thing I did other than cartooning was a zip line canopy tour, which was a

blast. OA always manages to provide very impressive exhibits/shows at the Jamboree. I believe the one in 2005,

patterned after the Blueman Group, was my favorite. Great message and very entertaining. As a member of the

press I was able to meet Switchfoot in 2010 and have enjoyed a lot of behind-the-scenes access to the Jamborees.

Perhaps the most significant thing I was able to do though, was coordinate scout-themed cartoons from nationally

syndicated cartoonists in both 2010 (for the 100th anniversary of the BSA) and 2013. The net effect of this was to

run a scout-themed cartoon in the Jamboree Today on the same day as it was published nationally. So cartoons

like Dennis the Menace, Speed Bump, Edison Lee, B.C., The Wizard of Id, Agnes and more all provided a nod to

scouting.

What is your favorite Scouting cartoon?

I don't have just one favorite, but the most popular knots cartoon according to

bit.ly link views seems to be just a silly one about learning how to (or not to)

kayak. I would never have predicted that it would be so popular, but perhaps

just the slap-stick nature of it hit people the right way.

Others that I personally like best range from ones that hit close to home like a

pinewood derby cartoon about an over-involved dad (November '99) or Wil-

liam D. Boyce if he encountered a scout that wouldn't help him with direc-

tions (July '11), to ones that are just silly such as the ordering of the arrows

cartoon (April '08) or parody of what does the fox say (January '14), to ones

that actually happened to me like pitching my tent in a flood plain (June '99)

or a flat tire on a bike hike (April '09).

Why did you start drawing?

I haven't had enough therapy to answer that question accurately, but

it was just something that just sort of happened. I had some natural

ability in it and it was fun to doodle as a kid. I've never had formal

training in drawing so I have to thank my third grade art teacher -

she taught me the basics that are still the heart of my method today.

I'll take the blame for where it went from there, but basics and prac-

tice, practice, practice are kind of the key to it. I am not necessarily

recommending that approach, it's just how it worked out for me.

Did anything in Scouts develop your interest in art?

I think things like art merit badge and the fun and sense of humor

you develop in scouting through skits and games all contributed to and reinforced my interest in art and cartooning.

Some good advice in cartooning is to draw what you know and I've known it as a scout and as a parent and leader.

You never know what things that you have an interest in will contribute. For example, I was really into photography

in high school, and I would guess that some of things like composition, layout, framing, etc. assist with cartooning

skills as well.

We would like to thank Rich for taking the time to answer our questions and allowing us to enjoy his cartoons in

issues of the Crane newsletter.

Rich's web site is www.the-cartoonist.com and some current books

that he has out include two Out to Lunch books, KNOTS Cartoons,

A Journey Through Christian Theology and the Cartoon Gospel

series. Some other background things include a B.S. in Industrial

Management from Purdue University and an M.A. in Theological

Studies from the University of Dayton and he is a card carrying

member of the National Cartoonists Society. He is currently very

active in Tecumseh Council on the executive board, a co-chair of

the COPE and Climbing committee and a unit commissioner serv-

ing 3 packs and 2 scout troops among other things.

Welcome! Over 40 candidates

completed their ordeal in

August and September!