The Taunkacoo/Musketahquid Merger
New Lodge Name and Totem
Chippanyonk Antecedents
New Lodge Insignia
Lodge Leadership and Service

The Taunkacoo/Musketahquid Merger

In the fall of 1996, after the new Knox Trail Council was established, the merged councils’ Order of the Arrow lodges — Taunkacoo 487 (Algonquin Council) and Musketahquid 414 (Norumbega Council) — also merged, forming Chippanyonk Lodge 59. Michael Ferraro, a Scout from Troop 2 Milford and the last Vigil member inducted by Taunkacoo Lodge, was elected Lodge Chief.

New Lodge Name and Totem

The name “Chippanyonk” was chosen for the new lodge with the recent merger very much in everyone’s mind. The name is the same as the name of the Chippanyonk council ring at Knox Trail’s Nobscot Boy Scout Reservation and means “where the tribes join together (assemble)” in one of the local Algonquian languages, possibly Penobscot or Nipmuc. The number 59 was chosen because it was the lowest number available at that time. Interestingly, that same number had been used by three previous Connecticut lodges that had merged or changed their names — Wahquimacut, Kiehtan, and Eluwak. The new Chippanyonk Lodge 59 eventually chose the raccoon as its totem, reportedly after several encounters at camp between one such creature and several Chippanyonk Brothers. The lodge refers affectionately to its raccoon totem as “Chip”, and to its member newsletter as the “Yonk”.

Chippanyonk Antecedents

The new Chippanyonk Lodge was heir to two strong Order of the Arrow traditions. Taunkacoo Lodge 487 was chartered in 1953, replacing an existing honor camper society at Algonquin Council’s Camp Resolute called the “Order of Taunkacoo”. Musketahquid Lodge 414 was chartered in 1949 when Norumbega Council purchased Camp Hidden Valley (later sold to Daniel Webster Council). Prior to the purchase of Hidden Valley, Norumbega Council had sent its Scouts to Camp Quinapoxet, which Norumbega shared with Cambridge Council. Presumably Norumbega Scouts became members of Kahagon Lodge 131 (chartered in 1938) at Quinapoxet until Norumbega Council acquired its own camp and Musketahquid Lodge was formed. Both Taunkacoo and Musketahquid carried on robust Order of the Arrow programs throughout their history, and supplied many Section leaders over the years.

New Lodge Insignia

The two lodge flap designs pictured below were submitted to the new Chippanyonk Lodge Executive Board for consideration. The first flap was designed by former Musketahquid Lodge Chief and Camp Resolute staff member Dan Catchpole. With the arrow across the top, it is reminiscent of the old Musketahquid flaps. It shows Nobscot Mountain on the left and a chief calling the tribes together at the council fire on the right. The second flap, designed by Camp Resolute staff member Jim Ganley, depicts Nobscot Mountain in the background and Little Pond at Camp Resolute in the foreground. The two oak leaves symbolize the two merged lodges, while the acorn represents the new Chippanyonk Lodge that grew out of the merger.

Chippanyonk Flaps:

Lodge Leadership and Service

Chippanyonk Lodge has provided strong leadership to Section NE-1A. The Section’s unique Healey Cup competition is patterned after the Apache Relay that has been conducted since time immemorial each week of summer camp at Knox Trail Council’s Camp Resolute. Paul Healey of Chippanyonk Lodge, NE-1A Section Chief in 1998-1999, introduced the unusual relay race to the Section, and the competition is named after him. Bryan Mazaika, 2005-2006 Chippanyonk Lodge Chief, was elected Section Secretary at the 2005 Conclave. Bill Gardner of Taunkacoo Lodge served as NE-1A Section Adviser from 1993 through 1997 and for some years prior as Adviser to other Sections. Rick Riopelle, Director of Program for Knox Trail Council, has served as Section Staff Adviser since 1997.

Chippanyonk was selected as a Quality Lodge in 2004. In June of 2005, the Lodge successfully hosted the annual NE-1A Section Conclave attended by over 300 people at Camp Resolute, the largest NE-1A Conclave in recent memory and the second largest held in the Northeast Region. Fittingly, at the Conclave the Chippanyonk Healey Cup team won the first competition held by the Section at Camp Resolute since the race began there in 1999.

Today, Chippanyonk Lodge holds at least five events annually: three Ordeals, a Fellowship weekend, and a banquet. Lodge members provide hundreds of service hours each year to improve and maintain Knox Trail's two camps — Nobscot Scout Reservation in Framingham and Sudbury, MA, and Robsham Reservation and Camp Resolute in Bolton, MA — for the year round enjoyment of all Scouts and Scouters.