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Our full lodge calendar can be found here. Lodge activities include Feed My Starving Children in January, Order of the Arrow Worker’s Weekend at Camp Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan, and other service projects.

Lodge Executive Committee Meetings: First Thursday of every month at 7:00 PM, Kasperson Center for Scouting

Chapter Meetings:
Aptakisic: second Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM, Kasperson Center for Scouting in Vernon Hills
Namachani (Potawatomi District):second Wednesday of every month at 7:00 PM, Glenview Community Church in Glenview
Yakwa’-hay (North Star District): second Monday of every month at 7:30 PM, Bethel Lutheran Church in Gurnee

Our Lodge merchandise can be purchased at our many events throughout the year!

To be a member of the Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan Lodge, you need to pay your dues AND be registered with the Northeast Illinois Council. For youth members and adult members involved at the unit level, this means maintaining your registration with your unit. For members who are not registered with a unit, you must be registered with your District or Council as a member-at-large (to check your registration status, email ken.lacrosse@scouting.org). We ask that you please pay your dues by March 31 every year. If you became a new Ordeal Member in the summer, you will need to pay your dues for the following year.

Payment Options:
Individual Dues: $25 – Includes National and Lodge Dues.
Sustaining Member Dues: $65 – Includes National & Lodge Dues, and admission to all Lodge events EXCEPT the OA Winter Banquet.

Before you begin, you’ll need your BSA ID number.
Click HERE to pay your 2024 OA dues online.
If you need help, please send an email to the Lodge Adviser (oalodge40@gmail.com).
You can also mail your dues to the council office.

Why pay dues?
Paying your Lodge dues makes you are an active member. As an active member, you will have the opportunity to become a Brotherhood or Vigil Honor member, help with official service projects, receive our newsletter “Whippoorwill”, run for official positions, and seek leadership opportunities within the Lodge. The Lodge also supports many other activities that are part of our mission to provide service to others. The Lodge also use your dues to build and maintain ceremonial outfits, pay for camp improvements, and support other programs. All the programs supported by the Lodge are identified and voted upon by the Key 5 and the Lodge Executive Committee. Your dues help us remain a vital part of the Northeast Illinois Council.

Position

Position	Name	Contact
Key 5 - Lodge Chief	Bradley R	send an email
Key 5 - Vice Chief of Committees	Ted Z	send an email
Key 5 - Vice Chief of Chapters	Isaac K	send an email
Key 5 - Lodge Treasurer	Jack A	send an email
Key 5 - Lodge Secretary	Alex K	send an email
Aptakisic Chapter Chief	Shane D
Aptakisic Chapter Adviser	Tim Clifford	send an email
Namachani Chapter Chief	Rex W
Namachani Chapter Adviser	Chuck Pint	send an email
Yakwa'hay Chapter Chief	Vincent K
Yakwa'hay Chapter Adviser	Dale Steeber	send an email
Lodge Staff Adviser	Sam Dummer - NEIC Program Director	send an email
Lodge Adviser	Steve Rossbach	send an email

Unit Elections & Camp Promotions

Unit Election and Camp Promotions for the OA are from February 1 to May 9. Adult Candidate Nominations must be completed by May 13. At each unit election, the OA will also provide information and promotion for the upcoming camp season. All unit election scheduling is handled through web pages provided from our OA membership database. Each unit will receive a custom link in the scheduling emails that are sent to them. Scheduling emails are resent every two weeks if an election has not been scheduled.

As of February 1, 2019, unit elections are permitted in Scouts BSA, Venturing, and Sea Scout units. The Order of the Arrow membership requirements are as follows:

• Be a registered member of the Boy Scouts of America.
• Have experienced 15 nights of Scout camping while registered with a troop, crew, or ship within the two years immediately prior to the election. The 15 nights must include one, but no more than one, long-term camp consisting of at least five consecutive nights of overnight camping, approved and under the auspices and standards of the Boy Scouts of America. Only five nights of the long-term camp may be credited toward the 15-night camping requirement; the balance of the camping (10 nights) must be overnight, weekend, or other short-term camps of, at most, three nights each. Ship nights may be counted as camping for Sea Scouts.
• At the time of their election, youth must be under the age of 21, and hold one of the following ranks corresponding to the type unit in which they are being considered for election: Scouts BSA First Class rank, the Venturing Discovery Award, or the Sea Scout Ordinary rank or higher, and following approval by the Scoutmaster, Crew Advisor or Sea Scout Skipper, be elected by the youth members of their unit.
• Adults (age 21 or older) who meet the camping requirements may be selected following nomination to and approval by the lodge adult selection committee.

Voting for youth candidates will be based on their spirit of brotherhood, cheerfulness (no matter how tiresome their duties), and a willingness to give unselfish and wholehearted service to others at all times. Click here for a sample election ballot.

Adult Membership Qualifications

Each year, upon holding a troop, crew, or ship election for youth candidates that results in at least one youth candidate being elected, the unit committee may nominate adults to the lodge adult selection committee. Adult candidate recommendation(s) must be submitted using Lodge Master by May 13. Questions on this process can be emailed to oalodge40@gmail.com. The number of adults nominated can be no more than one-third of the number of youth candidates elected, rounded up where the number of youth candidates is not a multiple of three. If no youth are elected, no adults can be elected. In addition to the one-third limit, the unit committee may nominate the current unit leader (but not assistant leaders), as long as he or she has served as unit leader for at least the previous twelve months. Candidates must meet the below requirements:

• Selection of the adult is based on the ability to perform the necessary functions to help the Order fulfill its purpose, and not for recognition of service, including current or prior achievement and positions
• The individual will be an asset to the Order because of demonstrated abilities that fulfill the purpose of the Order
• The camping requirements set forth for youth members are fulfilled
• The adult leader’s membership will provide a positive example for the growth and development of the youth members of the lodge.

Recommendations of the adult selection committee (the selection committee includes the lodge adviser, the chairman of the committee where the lodge adviser serves, and the lodge staff adviser) with the approval of the Scout Executive, serving as Supreme Chief of the Fire, will be candidates for induction.

Vigil Election Information

The Lodge is currently accepting Vigil Election Forms for potential Vigil candidates. Members are eligible for the Vigil Honor if they have been a Brotherhood member for at least two years and are currently registered with the BSA and are current with their OA dues. The Northeast Illinois Council Office and each chapter will have a copy of who is eligible. Anyone can complete the form. Submitting a form for yourself does not add nor take away from your chances of being selected for the Vigil Honor; it allows for data to be more accurate for yourself. However, possible candidates still need the support of other arrowmen of the Lodge. Before filling out a form for someone, think to yourself: is this person deserving of this great honor? You should not fill an information sheet out for someone just because they are a friend of yours or because they have been in the Order of the Arrow for a long time. You should only nominate an eligible candidate if you believe they deserve the honor. Candidates are not selected based on the number of information sheets that are submitted, but by the quality of their service record, so please take care when filling out these forms.
Click here to download the Vigil Election Form. The form must be submitted by November 15 and can be either emailed to oalodge40@gmail.com or mailed to:

OA Vigil Committee
Northeast Illinois Council BSA
850 Forest Edge Drive
Vernon Hills, IL 60061

Adult Candidate Nomination Form
Lodge 40 Bylaws
Lodge Executive Commitee Meeting Minutes
National OA Resources
Sample Election Ballot
Unit Election Request Form
Vigil Election Form
When to Wear the OA Sash

To read a brief history of Ma-Ka-Ja-Wan Lodge #40, click here. You can also purchase the new book Lodge #40 History 1929-2019 by Ian Hopkins and John Ropiequet in the Scout Shop.

Past Lodge 40 Chiefs
Past Lodge 40 Summer Camp Honors Masters
Past Lodge 40 Ordeal Examples