Central Florida Council

Central Florida Council #83 [http://www.cfcbsa.org] serves Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Brevard, Volusia and Flagler Counties. Its headquarters is located in Apopka, Florida, and its primary Scout camp is Camp La-No-Che in Paisley.

Districts

*Canaveral District
*Eagle District
*Fort Gatlin District
*Halifax District
*King's Road District
*Lake District
*Little Econ District
*Manatee District
*Osceola District
*Rolling Hills District
*Sand Lake District
*Seminole Trails District
*Tuscarora District
*Wekiwa District

OA lodge

Tipisa Lodge #326 is a Lodge of the Order of the Arrow associated with Central Florida Council. It is descended from the Tipisa Honor Camper Society, and is the only lodge of that organization to retain the Tipisa name. [ [http://usscouts.org/usscouts/honorsociety/TIPISA.html USSSP: The page cannot be found ] ] Tipisa weekends are always held at Camp La-No-Che. [ [http://www.tipisa.org Tipisa 326] Official Website] It is part of Section 4S, Southern Region. As of 2007, membership in Tipisa Lodge numbered more than 1,200 scouts and scouters.

The Lodge was formed as an extension of the "Tipisa Honor Camper Society" in 1938. The society, which was originally created in 1930, also had chapters in Boy Scout councils in Michigan and Indiana. The Indiana chapter was chartered as an OA Lodge under the name "Me-she-kin-no-quah #269" in 1944, and the Michigan chapter was chartered as "Tecumseh #332" in 1946. The Central Florida chapter retained the Tipisa name, and was also chartered as an OA Lodge in 1946. "Tipisa" is from the Sioux language, meaning "red tipi". [ [http://www.tipisa.org/main/page.php?5 Tipisa Lodge 326: Lodge History ] ]

Tipisa hosts 6 events annually, including; TNAW or Tipisa Native American Weekend in February, Spring Conclave in March, the Service Weekend in May, the Lodge Leadership Development Program (LLDP) and Lodge Banquet in August, and the Fall Fellowship in September. The chapters of the lodge host their own Ordeal weekends (with some chapters holding joint weekends) from October to February.

Tipisa Lodge is divided into fourteen chapters, each representing a separate district of Central Florida Council.

Camp La-No-Che

Camp La-No-Che is a Boy Scout Camp located on the North shore of Lake Norris in Paisley, Florida. It is a part of Central Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America and is home to Tipisa Lodge of the Order of the Arrow (OA). Camp La-No-Che is part of the Leonard and Marjorie Williams Family Scout Reservation.

La-No-Che is convert|1480|acre|km2 and located near the southern border of the Ocala National Forest. It is also on the North side of the Wekiva River Protection Area.

The camp is open year round with its most active time being the 8 weeks during summer camp in June and July. La-No-Che also hosts weekends for local JROTC units, Venturing units, Learning for Life units, Cub Scouts (Boy Scouts of America), and Webelos (Boy Scouts of America) weekends. Tipisa Lodge also hosts OA events including sectional weekends.

There are multiple sub-camp locations on the Leonard and Marjorie Williams Family Scout Reservation including Camp Rybolt - a large group camping area, Camp Pooh Bear - a secluded and primitive camp, and Adventure Camp, which has a Project COPE course.

The camp has two waterfront areas with docks, an aquatics program, a climbing wall, two swimming pools, laundry facilities, a trading post (camp store), shotgun, rifle, and archery ranges, a health lodge, outdoor chapel, dining hall, and multiple modern latrines. Also contained on the property is a water treatment plant, 5 residential houses, sulphur springs, Pooh Bear Lake, 17 Troop campsites, a baseball field, amphitheater, basketball court, bouldering wall, a dance arbor, and the Florida Trail.

The W.T. Bland Dining Hall is a full service food facility able to produce 3 meals a day for 1000+ campers.

Adventure treks and hiking trails are numerous including Big Stump, a 12' cypress stump an Orlando area attraction trek, Eagle Week, SCUBA diving, climbing, caving, kayaking, sailing, and trail biking. American Red Cross Health & Safety Certifications are also offered.

History

Camp La-No-Che was originally located at Camp WeWa off of Orange Blossom Trail (US Hwy 441)in Apopka, FL. Due to limited available land for expansion, close proximity to a highway, and a polluted lake on property, the Central Florida Council decided to seek new property around 1949. The Committee to find new land suitable for a summer camp was headed by Don Cheney. Through various means they investigated the Gould Hunting Lodge on the north shore of Lake Norris in Lake County, FL. The hunting lodge was owned by the wealthy Gould family from Massachusetts, owners of the Gould Pump Company.

The first summer camp held on the new property was in 1950. During 1950 and 1951 there was no public electrical hook up onto the camp. There was an electrical generator but used for lights and a well-water pump only. Ice blocks were brought in along with butane and propane for cooking and hot water purposes. In 1952 a 5000 Watt generator was purchased due to plans for an on-site refrigerator.

A few years later on the west end of the property land was purchased from the Dyke family (who was given continued access) and the land also included Sulfur Springs, Big Stump, and a creek that feeds into Lake Norris.

The camp name was given by Don Cheney and consists of "La" for Lake, "No" for Norris and "Chee" to give it an Indian sounding ending. According to Tom Burgess a professional Scouter of that era, "Cheney absolutely insisted that the name be La No Che... one "e", and even in the face of the fact that La Noche translates "the night" in Spanish...behind his back everyone understood that it was his way of putting the name of Cheney on the camp in perpetuity!"

In the mid-1990s Florida based supermarket Winn-Dixie donated a large sum of money to the Central Florida Council, and the camp was given the overall title of "Winn-Dixie Scout Reservation." In 2007, the Winn-Dixie name expired, and the Scout Reservation later sold naming rights to the Leonard and Marjorie Williams family.

Currently the camp director is Matt Ragan and assistant directors Kathy LaBar and Todd Hempfield.

ee also

*Scouting in Florida

References

External links

* [http://www.tipisa.org Tipisa Lodge #326 Official Website]
* [http://camplanoche.com Camp La-No-Che Official website]