Lodge History
The honor society of Camp Mitigwa, The Old Guard Honor Society, began in 1931 by Scout Executive J.C. Underwood. The stated purpose of the Old Guard was to assemble veteran and qualified campers to maintain and perpetuate the ideas and traditions of Camp Mitigwa.
In 1951, the Council Executive Board approved the petition for membership into the Order of the Arrow, which was integrated into the Boy Scout movement in 1948. So began Mitigwa Lodge #450. The members of the Old Guard were first inducted in the summer of 1951 by special ceremonies performed by an Illinek Lodge #132. Our summer inductions at camp have continued to this day.
In 1970, BoQui Lodge, of the former Southern Iowa Area Council merged with Tall Corn Area Council to form the Mid-Iowa Council, merged into Mitigwa lodge and formed Golden Eagle Chapter to make Mitigwa Lodge as it is today.
In 1998 and 2004, Mitigwa Lodge served as the Service Lodge for the National Order of the Arrow Conference held at Iowa State University in Ames Iowa. In 2004, The National Order of the Arrow discontinued using numbers to designate lodges thus while we can still use #450 it has no meaning. The Mitigwa Lodge is recognized as serving the Mid-Iowa Council #177.
In 2001, the Mitigwa Lodge celebrated its 50th Anniversary of existence. It was celebrated with a commemorative gold lodge flap which was presented as the Lodge Service Award. The Lodge re-issued the original Green Border, white background Mitigwa Flap with the dates 1951-2001 stitched into it.
Lodge Chiefs and Terms
| Name | Term |
|---|---|
| A.J. Olson | 1951 |
| Bob Nixon | 1951-1952 |
| Byron Swedburg | 1952-1953 |
| Lee McMillan | 1953-1954 |
| Richard Barbour | 1954-1956 |
| Harold ‘Butch’ Hammer | 1956-1957 |
| Mark Stacey | 1957-1958 |
| John Millen | 1958-1959 |
| Robert Horn | 1959-1960 |
| Russ Nussbaum | 1960-1961 |
| Steve Clarke | 1961-1962 |
| Dave Pollock | 1962-1963 |
| Craig Wells | 1963-1964 |
| Mike Thornhill | 1964-1965 |
| Allen Andersen | 1965-1966 |
| Bob Thomsen | 1966-1967 |
| Glen White Jr. | 1967-1968 |
| Phil Hassel | 1968-1969 |
| Bob Skow | 1969-1970 |
| Mike Douglas | 1970-1971 |
| Rich Cave | 1971-1972 |
| Craig Reid | 1972-1973 |
| Jim Stewart | 1974-1975 |
| Greg Nichols | 1975-1976 |
| Jim Edmonson | 1976-1977 |
| Jeff Edmondson | 1977-1978 |
| Rick Biddle | 1978-1979 |
| Jeff Fazio | 1979 (Did Not Serve) |
| Phil Douglas | 1979-1980 |
| Royal Spragg | 1980-1982 |
| Ron Hodges | 1982-1984 |
| Steve Palm | 1984-1986 |
| Khushal Wardak | 1987-1987 |
| Dave Pellegrino | 1987-1989 |
| Steve Huber | 1989-1990 |
| Chris DeSaulniers | 1990-1992 |
| Kyle Brown | 1992-1993 |
| Mike Guthrie | 1993-1995 |
| Robby Kinsey | 1995-1996 |
| Joe Samo | 1996-1997 |
| Robert Gideon | 1997-1998 |
| Paul Vogtlin | 1998-1999 |
| Ryan Risse | 1999-2001 |
| Andy Herzberg | 2001-2002 |
| Ross DeBorg | 2002-2003 |
| Pat Hon | 2003-2004 |
| Chris Baldon | 2004-2006 |
| Andy DeBoard | 2006-2010 |
| Charles Abel | 2010-2011 |
| Jeff Flowers | 2011-2012 |
| Matt Epperson | 2012-2013 |
| Nick Wallace | 2013-2014 |
| Garret Davies | 2014-2015 |
| David Konfrst | 2015-2017 |
| Tyler Krugler | 2017-2018 |
| Jaret Norton | 2018-2019 |
| Dalton Ballard | 2019-2020 |
| Jakob Hoffmann | 2020-2021 |
| Alex Harris | 2021-2024 |
| Becky Murphy | 2024-2025 |
| Dirk Sokol | 2025-present |
Lodge Advisers
| Name | Term |
|---|---|
| Julius Fidler | 1951-1970 |
| Bill Darby | 1970-1974 |
| Dennis Dowell | 1974-1975 |
| Jim Goodding | 1975- 1994 |
| Robert Trusty | 1994-2007 |
| David Meisinger | 2007-2012 |
| Michael Weber | 2012-2014 |
| Dana Danks | 2014-2019 |
| Greg Jones | 2020-2025 |
| Jason Kammerer | 2025-present |
Source: Scouting in Iowa-The values Endure by Paul W. Lewis
