Bert Leithold

1930 - 2002.

Photo courtesy of Howard Kern,
one of Bert's many friends

The Winnedumah Chapter has lost it's last active member.
Scouting and the Order of the Arrow has lost one of it's best.
Bert passed away on April 12,2002 of heart failure.

Bert was a Vigil Honor member since 1974 and had been a registered member of the Boy Scouts since 1937. He served as a Scoutmaster for a troop that produced 13 Eagle Scouts, he was W4B Section Advisor for 2 years, a Silver Beaver, awarded the Founders Award, earned the George Meaney Award, Inyo-Mono District Chairman and was Vigil Honor advisor and Chapter Advisor for the Winnedumah Lodge.

Bert was a friend to many Scouters and will be sorely missed.

The Winnedumah Chapter disbanded in 1999. We had serious disagreements with the Yowlumne Lodge and the direction it was going. None of our issues seemed to matter to the Lodge or the Council. Unfortunately, the youth of the Inyo-Mono District were the losers. Even letters to Region and Area advisors didn't help.
Apparently the Council Executive is the only person who can make a change. The Executive at the time chose to ignore the youth of the Inyo-Mono District. There is a new Lodge Advisor and Council Executive since the chapter disbanded.
I resigned in August of 1999.You can read a copy of the letter I sent to the Council Executive, who has since transferred to Texas, with all names removed to stay within the parameters set by the National Order of the Arrow for webpages involving the Order of the Arrow. His only response was a letter on Council stationary that said "Your resignation has been accepted."

This letter is my opinion and my opinion alone. No one else in the chapter, whether they agreed or not, were involved in writing this letter. I alone am responsible for it's content. I leave it on here hoping that it might shed some light on the problems of the past with the hope that the problems won't be repeated in the Yowlumne Lodge or any other lodge.

Any and all comments on this letter or this situation can be sent to me
.

To explain why the Winnedumah Chapter complained about travel time and distance,travel distances from Bishop, California, home to the majority of the former Winnedumah's active members and the other areas of the Lodge are listed below.

Ridgecrest...... 120 miles
Bakersfield..... 223 miles
Lake Isabella... 180 miles
Tehachapi........ 180 miles
Camp Kern...... 259 miles
The trip between Bishop and Camp Kern is mostly on two lane mountain roads with tourist travel through Yosemite National Park, and an average speed of 35 miles per hour.

At an average of 60 miles per hour and $1.50 + per gallon of gas, you can do the math and see how long it took and what it would cost for us to get anywhere for lodge functions.

Yosemite Campfire Ring Member name: Mike "Mac" McElvogue Who is on your left - Who is on your right - Close Neighbors Grab a cup of coffee and see who all is here! If you have a homestead in Yosemite, join the Campfire!!

This OA Web Ring site is owned by Mike "Mac" McElvogue.
Want to join the Weld Tightly Every Link, the OA Web Ring?
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Mike "Mac" McElvogue
This page was updated on May 12,2002.
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