Del Loder and the second generation of OA

Del Loder represents the last of the second generation of Order of the Arrow members. He was 19 when he first met the founder of the OA, E. Urner Goodman. As Loder relates, Goodman was shocked when Loder repeated something he had learned about him a decade before and recalled it ten years later when he became a Vigil Honor member of the honor society for Boy Scouts founded in 1915. That connection and hundreds of others they made in the years leading up to Goodman's death cemented a relationship of mutual respect. Loder, a dynamic broadcaster, public speaker and comedian on more than one occasion is a jovial sort of fellow, but he is intractable. For years he perfected the oddities that existed in the ceremonial work of the OA between different lodges so that only one officially approved manuscript would exist that would pass muster to all who might find any part of it objectable. To be certain he did not do it alone, but let there be no doubt that he did so with the express blessing of Goodman, who is the most revered figure in OA history, even surpassing that of co-founder Carroll Edson. Loder is at home at the National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC), held biennially on college campuses. This year at Indiana University he is definitely in his element and loving all of the deserved attention he has received. Loder became the fourth person to receive the Legacy of Servant Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award, which requires a minimum of 25 years of service to the OA and a previous citation of the Distinguished Service Award. Loder's work with Scouting over the course of the last 65 years has had significant impact on the quality of the ceremonies practiced by OA members. It is only right that he be singled out for meritorious service as the ranks of his generation have been greatly lessened through attrition. It would seem that my position as one of the third generation has been enhanced by knowing Del and his deep connection to this order that promotes brotherhood and fellowship among Boy Scouts. Although Del had a health scare a few months back, he says he is feeling better than he has in a long time. May the Great Scoutmaster continue to bless him with good health and keep him safe and in our midst for a long time to come.

The Power of One

Since Saturday there has been an unusual gathering of a most unusual group of Boy Scouts and adult leaders, commonly referred to as Scouters. Every two years or so, the Order of the Arrow, the BSA's Honor Society composed chiefly of Boy Scouts or Scouting alumni, meet at a given college campus. This year the campus chosen is Indiana University, the same site as the very first conference held in 1951. This marks the tenth time that such an august gathering of Scouts has occurred on the Bloomington campus. The fact is that the National Order of the Arrow Conference is a very big deal. It is one of the greatest community service groups in the world and, in this country, a great percentage of Eagle Scouts become members of the order. Founded in 1915, only five years beyond the founding of the Boy Scouts of America, the Order of the Arrow started out as a way to inspire other Boy Scouts to follow the Scout Law and Oath. It became an official part of the BSA in 1934 when its program emphasizing camping and using the theme of the American Indian legend was approved. Later in 1948 the independent Order of the Arrow was merged into the BSA and its operations run by the National Council. This year's conference features about 7,000 members, referred to as Arrowmen and the activities include classroom experiences, competition of dance, singing and drumming groups and a variety of experiential events like scuba, kayaking and extreme sports. It's also a conference intended to honor those who lead the service society with several coveted awards like the Distinguished Service Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award as well as those who have helped the organization, but who are not members themselves (Red Arrow Award). This year's theme is "The Power of One" and was eloquently addressed by Del Loder, this year's recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, an award that has only been presented three times before. Loder, a 55-year member of the Scouting movement, was acquainted with the founder of the Order of the Arrow, E. Urner Goodman, and actually helped chair the committee that perfected several of the ceremonies handed down from its inceptions and made them acceptable to the BSA and sponsoring religious organizations. This makes his 27th appearance at a National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC) and it is certain that this may have been his most emotional. When the conference ends in another day or so, the thousands of members of the OA will depart for their respective troops or Venturing crews. Yet, there will be a better connection to this fraternity of cheerful service between Arrowmen and their lodges. There will be memories to last for a lifetime and a purposeful lifetime to make more memories. The Order of the Arrow has an will continue to set the highest standard for dedication to the principles of the Scout Oath and Law and will forge young men into the leaders of tomorrow.

White Noise

Just finishing a three-week run at Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carrè is the cautionary musical "White Noise." This is the first production to take advantage of tax credits that were created by the state legislature to lure first run shows here first before they bow on Broadway or take to the road. It is an important part of the response of the theatre community and its advocates to make New Orleans a vital center for national and regional theatre. It is appropriate this show is being held at Le Petit, since it is the oldest continuously operating community theatre in the nation. Yes, that's right. The nation. New Orleans has long been at the forefront of the arts and while it does take a back seat to New York and other major cities in the promotion of the arts, we do hold our own. As to "White Noise," it has the potential to be the next "Hair" or "Rent." It deals with the very tough subject material of racism and how we should respond to it. The cast was assembled in New York, went through three weeks of rehearsals there, journeyed down to the Crescent City, had one additional week of preparation and then opened their doors almost three weeks ago. The reviews have been largely positive and the performances of this very young cast have been spectacular. I have seen it twice. The first time I was so pulled into the show that I was not able to absorb many of the intricacies of the book and the impressive score that is both riveting and fresh. The basic plotline involves a pair of beautiful blonde sisters, Eva and Kady Siller (played respectively by MacKenzie Mauzy and Patti Murin), who respond to their father's suicide by becoming members of a band with a message of hate against all those they hold responsible for his death. They team up with a menacing skinhead named Duke (Patrick Murney), who makes no bones about wanting to espouse his racist lyrics to rally like-minded racists. The group's name is an obvious metaphor, but it isn't until they are "discovered" by successful producer Rick Kent (Brandon Williams) that their message is coded and made more mainstream. Along the way Kent's protégé, Kurt, a talented musical genius repulsed by their message, is convinced to become a member of the group in order to make their message more tolerable to the masses. In short order a song decrying black people is re-titled "Monday's Suck" (as Kent explains to Kurt: "Everybody hates Mondays!") A popular rap group - Blood Brothers - is also used in juxtaposition to show their similar hateful "N.G.S" in which their profane laced lyrics profess a need to shoot whites. Their opening number for Act II, "Hip Hop Country" is a choreographic masterpiece with lyrics and music that steal the show. The music and lyrics by brothers Robert and Steven Morris, Joe Drymala and Joe Shane make the show even more compelling than the masterful book by young writer Matte O'Brien. O'Brien bravely professed in a talkback session last Tuesday night to the audience that some of the writing came from experiences he had as a young gay male. The homophobic hate he has seen could easily be translated into anti-Semitism and other racist thinking. The love story between Kurt and Kady is worthy of mention in that it shows the dichotomy of their feelings for each other and their disconnect with regard to Eva and Duke's message of hate. Despite enormous success, the characters spin out of control until tragic events rip the two groups apart. This is a show that Broadway should take to like a duck to water. Its message is raw and the language is frank, but the production has the potential to take the theatre district by storm. The production is due to open in a legitimate Broadway theatre in late fall or early 2010 and I predict we will hear more from them on what might then be the Great "White Noise" Way.

If you believe they put a man on the moon...

Apollo 11 astronaut

It seems surreal to think that it's been 40 years since man first landed on the moon and that the last man to walk on the moon did so in December of 1972. I seem to remember it all so vividly. The daytime air was hot in the summer camp I attended -- Blue Star-- nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. At the time the music of Led Zeppelin was making the rounds on portable phonograph players found in the various boys and girls cabins and at the recreation hall at the Teen Age Village (TAV) that late July. "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" was all the rage among the girls from Miami and I did my best to try to be cool to them. It turns out I was losing some of my awkwardness with the girls that summer. I had landed the role of Nicely Nicely Johnson in a production of "Guys and Dolls" that we put on early in the summer and by the end of the next session I was starring in "The Mouse That Roared" as Tully Bascombe. The girls liked the leading man, it would seem, although I was not nearly the tall and dark stranger many envisioned in their dreams. Nevertheless, I was enjoying my popularity. Because we were largely without TV during camp, we were sheltered from much of what was going on in the outside world. I am sure that we would have been much more excited had the camp allowed us to see the launch and kept us up-to-date on the progress that had been made prior to lunar touchdown. But they had a camp to run and I can understand why more attention wasn't paid. I guess they couldn't get away from the historic import of a terran man walking on the surface of his nearest neighbor in space. I must say I was filled with pride and patriotism. I couldn't help but think that maybe this would show the Soviet Union who really was the better superpower. This was, after all, a young teenager whose impressions were shaped by the Cold War and the threat of mutually assured destruction (MAD). In the end I should have seen that this had nothing to do with man-made borders, but instead with those imposed by the Almighty. Breaking the bonds of gravity and freeing ourselves to explore the solar system was but one tenuous step that man had taken and it didn't really matter which nation led that charge. All of us on Planet Earth would be forever changed as a result of what happened that July of 1969 and what has or hasn't happened since. Forty years is a long time for us to be in a holding pattern. The International Space Station has yet to come into fruition, but it is further along and is being shaped by a truly international team, not through the efforts of but one country. I like that. It hearkens back to the vision Gene Roddenberry had of a united Earth when he started the Star Trek legacy. Perhaps one day when it is much easier for us to do so, we will all have the chance to slip "the surly bonds of earth" that Gillespie Magee wrote of during World War II and "touch the face of God."

Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite (1916-2009)

The man America trusted most has finally gone on to meet the real newsmaker. Walter Cronkite, the voice of CBS News for decades, who followed Edward R. Morrow's tradition of hard-hitting broadcast journalism, became known to millions of American and citizens of the world as the voice of trusted news. He set such a high standard that even in Sweden, the term for a news announcer was given the honorific term of a "cronkiter." He was in many ways "Uncle Walter," an endearing term for a favorite relative who came into American homes each weekday evening and smartly and assuredly gave each of us a recap of the day's events. He was the reporter and anchor who watched with disgust as President Kennedy was gunned down in Texas and who paused in awe as American astronauts romped and cavorted on the surface of the moon. When he became disenfranchised from the Vietnam War, President Lyndon Johnson quipped that if he had lost Cronkite, he had "Middle America." Cronkite started out in the Midwest as I did as a high school journalism student. He had a penchant for being in the thick of a news story and started his radio broadcasting career with the air name of Walter Wilcox. His World War II correspondence from Africa and London got him noticed by Edward R. Murrow and his distinctive and authoritative delivery gave him the opportunity to move into the nascent television industry. He was there when Fred Friendly and Murrow set up shop at CBS News and he carried with him the highest standards of ethical journalism at a time when rules were being made and broken on a daily basis. Today there are a number of very talented network anchors that carry with them huge salaries, but I look to Walter Cronkite as I would Babe Ruth. He was grossly underpaid during his time on the air, although he would probably defend his salary as quite sufficient. His impact on America and me qualifies him as one of my true heroes in journalism. When he lost his wife Betsy four years ago, he was without her for the first time in nearly 65 years. A man who loved sailing, Cronkite's wind was forever gone from his sails. For him the love they shared was deep and abiding and the two of them were rarely without each other as he noted in his book "A Reporter Remembers." He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981 from President Reagan and I remember seeing the broadcast that year and the wonderful video tribute that went with the honor. Katie Couric's introduction on the CBS Evening News was rendered by Cronkite. I hope it will stay as a daily reminder of the high standards of broadcast journalism he set for himself and all others that will follow him. And that's truly the way it is.

So many drinks, so little time

The popular "Tales of the Cocktail" events have continued over the course of the last several days and are winding down tomorrow. This year's featured libation has been the Mint Julep, a drink associated with the Kentucky Derby and a mainstay of the Old South. Frankly, with the rise of the Mojito as a popular drink, the concept of muddling mint leaves to render a refreshing cocktail doesn't seem so quirky. A well-made Mint Julep can be quite revealing as it swirls on one's tongue. It is sweet, but not overly so. It has a bite that lingers as the bourbon it is mixed with moves towards the back of the throat. While I still prefer the rich taste of a well-made Sazerac, it's easy to see why the drink was chosen to serve as the one to feature. Two nights ago special dinners were held at select restaurants featuring sponsors of various spirits who worked with the chefs at each location to make memorable meals coupled with complementary (not complimentary, mind you) drinks. Some of the seats cost as much as $100 a piece, but the experience was one that true epicureans could boast for years to come. It's not all drinking, mind you. There are seminars on varying topics of import, especially as drinks and cocktails relate to local and historical venues and events. This year's Tales of the Cocktails seems to be bigger, more organized and better attended than previous years. It has become a mainstay of summer during a period when tourism has traditionally been slow. Thank goodness its time has come. I'll drink to that.

Tales of the Cocktail 2009

And so it begins again. The New Orleans mid-summer convention dedicated to spirits kicks off today. The Tales of the Cocktail is featuring the Mint Julep this year much as they did the Sazerac last year. In short it is the premiere spirits event in the country. Now in their seventh year, Ann and Paul Tueneman hold court over this incredible event that attracts hundreds, if not thousands of attendees, from all over the world. For the next several days New Orleans is the epicenter of the spirits universe with seminars, lectures, parties and dinners being presented in support of this major event. You will see many different venues offered for world class dinners tomorrow night as well as a plethora of varying seminars on all kinds of spirits. If you want to know more about libations and potent potables, this is the place to be. New Orleans has always made itself evident as one of the great centers of drinking, although the aptly-named Bourbon Street does not lend itself toward greatness in mixology. Nevertheless, if you want to experience the science of drinking, this event is a must-see. I applaud all of Ann and Paul's staff for their cordiality and professionalism. It will be a great event and one not to be missed.