Gulf Stream Council is a council of the Boy Scouts of America in southeast

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

with the headquarters in

Palm Beach Gardens Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County in the U.S. state of Florida, 77 miles north of downtown Miami. , the population was 59,182. Palm Beach Gardens is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6 ...

. Founded in 1914, the Gulf Stream Council serves Scouts in Palm Beach,

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aus ...

, St. Lucie, Indian River, Okeechobee, Glades and

Hendry Hendry is a surname: *Hendry is a surname of the Scottish Clan Henderson and a variant of the name Henry. It is also associated with the Scottish Clan MacNaghten. Persons with a Hendry surname: * Billy Hendry, Scottish former football player ...

counties. Throughout its area, it serves over 24,000 youth.

Organization

A district is a small area within a council of the Boy Scouts of America. The Gulf Stream Council currently has six Districts. All of the districts in the Gulf Stream Council have an associated

Order of the Arrow The Order of the Arrow (OA) is the honor society of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), composed of Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives as elected by their peers. The society was created by E. Urner ...

chapter as part of Aal-pa-tah Lodge.

Big Lake District

Big Lake District, formerly known as Okeechobee District, serves Scouts in Glades,

, and Okeechobee, as well as western

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous count ...

. The Order of the Arrow chapter associated with Big Lake District is known a
Panasofee

Everglades District

Everglades District serves Scouts from southern Palm Beach County from Southern Blvd south to the Broward County Line. The Order of the Arrow chapter associated with Everglades District is Abaniki.

Indian River District

Indian River District serves Scouts throughout Indian River County. The Order of the Arrow chapter of Indian River District is calle
Lowaneumawat

Lighthouse District

Lighthouse District is a district that serves Scouts in north Palm Beach County from Southern Blvd to the Martin County border. The Order of the Arrow chapter associated with Lighthouse District is Wyhome-Pa-Tah.

Sailfish District

Sailfish District serves Scouts throughout Martin County. The Order of the Arrow chapter associated with Sailfish District i
Nekiwa
Sailfish District maintains a website (located a
sailfishdistrict.org
where local Scout units and Scouters can be found, as well as information regarding district events.

Treasure Coast District

Treasure Coast District serves Scouts throughout

St. Lucie County St. Lucie County ( es, Condado de Santa Lucía, link=) is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 329,226. The county's seat is Fort Pierce. St. Lucie County is included in the Port St. Lucie, FL Metro ...

. The Order of the Arrow chapter associated with Treasure Coast District i
Oiyatah

Inactive districts

* Seminole District * Manatee District was a district that served Scouts in Lake Worth and Boynton Beach in Palm Beach County. However, Manatee District merged with Osceola and Trade Winds District in May 2009. Manatee District also had an Order of the Arrow chapter which was called Coowachobee. * Tradewinds District served Scouts from forest hill blvd to 45th street split in August 2013. Its southern half merged with Osceola and formed Everglades District and its Northern half joined Lighthouse District. It also had an Order of the Arrow Chapter call Chee-Pa-Tah. * Osceola District merged with the southern half of Tradewinds District in August 2013 to form Everglades District

Camps

The Gulf Stream Council has three camps, ranging in size from to just a few acres. There is also Scout Hill, which is a small area in Palm Beach County, however, it is not completely owned by the Gulf Stream Council.

Tanah Keeta Scout Reservation

Tanah Keeta Scout Reservation or usually Tanah Keeta, is the main and largest campground of the Gulf Stream Council. Tanah Keeta is a word in

Hitchiti The Hitchiti ( ) were a historic indigenous tribe in the Southeast United States. They formerly resided chiefly in a town of the same name on the east bank of the Chattahoochee River, four miles below Chiaha, in western present-day Georgia. The ...

, which translates in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

to, "the gathering place". Along with the adjacent

Jonathan Dickinson State Park Jonathan Dickinson State Park is a Florida State Park and historic site located in Martin County, Florida, between Hobe Sound and Tequesta. The park includes the Elsa Kimbell Environmental Education and Research Center and a variety of natural ...

, it was originally a part of Camp Murphy, a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Army Camp. It is about in size. In addition, Tanah Keeta is adjacent a Girl Scout camp, called Camp Welaka. Tanah Keeta Scout Reservation is divided roughly in half into two camps, Camp Loxahatchee and Camp Clear Lake. A summer camp program has been held at Tanah Keeta in June and July since the summer of 1957. The property was deeded to the Gulf Stream Council in 1953.

Tanah Keeta Grace

May this food nourish our bodies,
May life give us a smile,
May the adventure always be with us,
and may Tanah Keeta remain in our hearts all the while. Amen

Camp Loxahatchee

Camp Loxahatchee
is on the western half of Tanah Keeta. It is more utilized than Camp Clear Lake, as it includes the Dining Hall, the Pool,

COPE The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colours, litu ...

, the Climbing Tower, the

Trading Post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

, and more campsites than Camp Clear Lake. The name is derived from the

Loxahatchee River The Loxahatchee River (Seminole for ''river of turtles'') is a 7.6 mile river near the southeast coast of Florida. It is a National Wild and Scenic River, one of only two in the state, and received its federal designation on May 17, 1985. The s ...

, which is adjacent to the camp.

Camp Clear Lake

Clear Lake covers the eastern half of Tanah Keeta Scout Reservation. Camp Clear Lake is a mostly primitive type campground, as opposed to Camp Loxahatchee. The title of Camp "Clear Lake" is derived from a small lake in the southeastern corner of Tanah Keeta, which has the name "Clear Lake". In 1957 the first summer camp at Tanah Keeta was held in Camp Clear Lake.

The Mike Machek Trail

The Mike Machek Trail is a 5.2 mile self-guided trail in the heart of Tanah Keeta. Within the one mile area of camp can be found almost every kind of topographical feature indictive to South Florida. This trail travels through them all. Originally developed by its founder Clayton Jones in 1984, he spent 3 and a half years planning the trail. The trail opened for use in the Fall of 1988. Currently the trail is maintained by various units and most construction projects are conducted by the Order of the Arrow Trail Care Crew.

Oklawaha Scout Reservation

Oklawaha Scout Reservation
is also known as Oklawaha, but sometimes referred to as OK, is a site in

Sebastian Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...

, Indian River County, on the banks of the

Oklawaha River The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 21, 2011 Ocklawaha River flows north from central Florida until it joins the St. Johns River near Palatka. Its name is derive ...

. Donated by Anna Vern Smith in memory of her husband Claude in 1953, Oklawaha is a scrub oak flatland which includes a swimming area, canoe launch into the river, amphitheater, large meeting/dining hall pavilion, archery/BB range and chapel.

Camp Dark Hammock

Camp Dark Hammock is leased by the Gulf Stream Council to provide a Florida wilderness camping for Troops, Crews, or Explorer Posts only. It is located northeast of Okeechobee in

Okeechobee County Okeechobee County () is a county located in the Florida Heartland region of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,644. The county seat is Okeechobee. Okeechobee County comprises the Okeechobee, FL Micropolitan St ...

Scout Hill

Scout Hill is a small area of the

John Prince Memorial Park John Prince Memorial Park is a park located in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. The park covers 726.36 acres (338 of which are acres of Lake Osborne) and is managed by the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department. Most of the park is on the we ...

Campground in

Lake Worth, Florida Lake Worth Beach, previously named Lake Worth, is a city in east-central Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, located about north of Miami. The city's name is derived from the body of water along its eastern border known as the Lake Worth ...

. It was known as Camp Osborne until about 1952. In 1952 most of Camp Osborne was sold to Palm Beach County to create the campground of John Prince Memorial Park. The small area that remained was renamed "Scout Hill".

Aal-pa-tah Lodge

Aal-Pa-Tah Lodge #237 is the

lodge associated with the Gulf Stream Council. The lodge building is located in Tanah Keeta Scout Reservation in Tequesta, Florida. Aal-pa-tah is one of seven OA lodges in Section S-4, which covers a majority of

and southern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

. The word "Aal-Pa-Tah" is word from the Leni Lenape language that translates to Alligator in English.

History

The lodge was founded 1942 during

; then from 1945 to 1947, on the list of lodge chiefs says "WWII". There were only two or three chapters when Aal-pa-tah was founded in 1942. Aal-pa-tah Lodge held the title as the best all around lodge in 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2016.

Section S-4 Events

Aal-pa-tah has hosted a number of Section S-4 events. Aal-pa-tah Lodge has hosted section conference for Section S-4 in 1953, 1962, 1972, 1981, 1988, 1997, 2004, 2011, and will host in 2019. The lodge also hosted section seminars in 2000 and 2008 and is scheduled to host a revamped seminars entitled Section Leadership Summit or (SLS) in 2014.

Chapters

As mentioned above each district has an OA Chapter. Lodges usually divide into chapters which will usually corresponding to districts within the council. The chapter is led by the elected youth chapter chief, a volunteer adult is appointed as the adviser and the district executive is the professional (staff) adviser. The following names are the names of Aal-pa-tah's Chapters: * Wyhome-pa-tah is the chapter of Lighthouse District. * Panasofee is the chapter of Okeechobee District. * Abaniki is the chapter of Everglades District. 5* Nekiwa is the chapter of Sailfish District. 6* Oiyatah is the chapter of Treasure Coast District * Lowaneu Mawat is the chapter of Indian River District

Defunct Chapters

Coo-wa-chobee was the OA Chapter of Manatee District until 2009. In 2009 it merged with Abaniki and Cheepatah Chapters, because the Manatee District split and merged with the Osceola and Trade Winds Districts. Coowachobee was awarded the best chapter all around award for 2008. Chee-pa-tah was the chapter of Tradewinds District until 2013 when the District split and merged with Osceola and Lighthouse.