Section G18S
Section G18S was founded in 2020 when the Order of the Arrow reorganized into two Regions. While the current Section is new, it follows an inter-Lodge history dating back more than 75 years.
The Beginning – Area U Section A
The first known inter-lodge Conference was held in 1945, hosted by Canaliño Lodge # 90, the first Lodge formed in California. None of the early Lodges in our Section area attended that conference, but they began to participate in subsequent conferences between 1946 and 1950. Carl Helmick, Supreme Chief of the Fire for Tahquitz Lodge # 127, was an early Region 12 Adviser, and Tahquitz also hosted the final Area U Conference in March 1950.
Explosive Growth – Area 12-A
In 1948, the Boy Scouts of America reorganized from 26 Areas to 12 BSA Regions. In 1950, the Order of the Arrow created OA Areas within each Region. This was how Area 12-A (also stylized as Area XII-A) was born.
By this time, the Order of the Arrow was present in all but 2 Councils in Southern California. This followed a period of immense growth in the population of California, the Scouting movement in the State, and the growth of the Order of the Arrow in the West.
Early Area 12-A Conferences were small meetings with 50—100 in attendance. By the late 1960s, however, upwards of 800 Arrowmen were attending. These Area Conferences proved to be incredibly popular.
Continued Service – Section W4B
In 1973, the Boy Scouts of America again reorganized, this time from 12 Regions to the 6 Region system (later 4). This was the birth of Section W4B. The new Section extended the same Southern California boundaries as Area 12-A.
Now known as Section Conclaves, they continued to be very popular, with events often peaking over 500—600 Arrowmen.
Western Region Changes – Section W4S
In 2008, the Western Region had their own reorganization, making additional changes to our service area. The new group was called Section Section W4S, being the “Southern” section of Western Region Area 4.
One result of the change was that San Diego-Imperial Council was in Western Region Area 6, which resulted in Tiwahe Lodge # 45 joining Section W6W in 2011. While their Lodge joined another group, Long Beach Council founded Puvunga Lodge in 2012, the second-to-last Council in the country to form an Order of the Arrow Lodge.
NST Generation – Section G18S
As part of the BSA Project Magellan rollout, Scouting was reorganized into National Service Territories (NST’s). NST 3 covers the State of California.
The Order of the Arrow needed to reorganized themselves to reflect this new reality, and the 2 Region system came into being. The Gateway Region mostly comprises the Order of the Arrow West of the Mississippi River.
New Section designations were created, which resulted in our current Section G18S.
The boundaries of this Section remained the same as the Section preceding it, Section W4S with our current Lodges, Cahuilla, Puvunga, and Wiatava.