Manikiki Nation History for 2005 - 2006

The Manikiki Nation continues to be strong in numbers with our Nation strength at 246, 145 Little Braves and 101 Big Braves. This is up by +10 from last year. We do have a much larger class of outgoing boys this fall so we will need to do some recruiting. Our relationship with the Green YMCA is solid and we will continue to keep the Indian theme as we move forward. The Nation budget was raised to $13,400.00 as we continue to have a successful adult only reverse raffle fund raiser in February which raises as much or more money as we use each year. We have a large reserve in CD’s which is available if we have a bad year. We may want to consider some options for using this reserve in the future. We enjoyed participating in the following monthly Nation events:

September 2005: Fall Campout at Mohican

To begin the year the Cherokee tribe sponsored a primitive campout at Camp Mohican in Loudonville Ohio which is about an hour drive towards Columbus. The weather was excellent which is good because this was a tent campout. The campout featured a full group canoe ride along with a fun pass that included miniature golf and go-cart rides. Each tribe staked out a claim and set up tents, then cooked their own meals for breakfast and lunch. For dinner the Nation hosted a Pig Roast. The co-sponsor Mohawk Tribe spent most of the day Saturday cooking the pig to the delight of the Little Braves. The campfire ceremony was hosted by outgoing Nation Chief Gregg Badilich and featured a final flute performance and story by Storyteller Scott “Singin’ Moose” Summers. The following officers were installed at the ceremony:

Nation Chief – Pat “Running Bull” Duff, Mohawk

War Chief – Scott “Singin’ Moose” Summers, Cherokee

Sachem – Gregg “Running Wolf” Badalich, Arapaho

Medicine Man – Cliff “Growling Bear” Dahlman, Navajo

Wampum Bearer – Tom “Sitting Hawk” Turner, Kickapoo

Tally Keeper – Kurt “Big Bear” Leibensperger, Apache

Web Spinner – Kevin “Running Pike” Adkins, Creek

Story Teller – Charlie “Freedom Eagle” Elliot, Comanche

October 2005: Alumni Golf Outing

The annual alumni golf outing was held at Chenoweth Golf Club the first weekend of October. The weather cooperated and the event, which featured a Steak Diner and plenty of adult beverages, was well attended. Thanks to Dave Weimer, Jack Williams for sponsoring this event

October 2005: Akron University Zips Football Game at the Rubber Bowl

The October nation event was our annual Akron University Zips football game against Army on a cold and wet Saturday evening. This year featured our first pre-game tailgate party. The high point was event was watching our young braves on the field high fiveing the players as the entered the field through a big Zips helmet. It was Nation Chief Pat Duff’s connections at the U of A that allowed us to get the kids on the field. In the end, the Zips defeated Army for the big win on their way to a bowl game.

November 2005: MAP Air Museum

The Nation spent a Saturday afternoon visiting a local Air museum looking at planes and better appreciating the history of air flight.

December 2005: Father Son Banquet at Guy’s Party Center

We returned to Guys Party Center for our annual Father Son banquet. The entire $4000+ cost of the event was covered by the Nation thanks to our successful fundraiser the previous year. The entertainment was two Women Mad Scientists. It was well received by the boys but we made a mistake by moving the entertainment in front of the awards ceremony. We will never do that again. Awards were presented to the following:

Joe Friday Awards:

Dave “Silver Fox” Wiemer, Creek

Joe “Screaming Eagle” Shehan, Crow

Tom “Sitting Hawk” Turner. Kickapoo

Larry “Big Bear” Murgatroyd, Apache

Outstanding Service Award:

None selected

Big Medicine Points Award:

Blackhawk Tribe

January 2006: Akron University Zips Basketball Game

We returned to Akron University to watch the Zips soundly defeat Toledo on the Basketball court. The high point of the event was a pre-game meeting the University of Akron basketball coach who gave the kids a nice pep talk about college sports and the importance of being motivated in school to be the best we can be.

February 2006: Bowling

We once again spent a cold Sunday afternoon at the local bowling ally. This year we tried a new approach to the competition to make it more fun for all ages. The first game featured some fancy father/son trickery such as bowling a frame left handed, another frame blindfolded, another frame shooting between the legs for your father/son etc. The nation covered the entire cost of the event because we wanted to reward the Big Braves for a major commitment to buying tickets for the fundraiser the following weekend.

February 2006: Reverse Raffle Adult Only Fundraiser.

The annual reverse raffle fundraiser was exceptionally successful bringing in over $14,000. Ticket sales were very good but not a complete sell out so we have room for improvement. All side bar tickets were sold and raffle tickets were also very popular. Singin’ Moose brought a band to provide the entertainment. The band included Kleckner school principal Judy “Diamond” Elfrink and Manikiki Nation Cherokee Tribe member Sam “Buffalo Hump” Ewing on vocals. We stretched the length an extra half hour but the extra time did not pay for itself so we won’t do that again. We also decided that we need more silent auction items that sell in the $20 to $40 range.

March 2006: Green YMCA All night party

We tried something new and did our annual late night party on Saturday instead of Sunday so we could stay all night. Most families left after eating pizza and ice cream at midnight but some stayed until we were kicked out at 6:00 am. We tried having lots of organized contests but some worked better than others. Having movies available was a big hit and will continue in the future. We also need to make sure to have plenty of Pizza so we don’t run out.

April 2006: FAScar at the Green YMCA

The Comanche tribe continued a tradition of sponsoring the FAScar competition at Tom Knoebel’s church in Coventry. The refurbished track and electronic finish gate work very well. This is a favorite event for the Fathers And Sons willing to spend the time to make a car. The car kits cost $5 so this is a very inexpensive event. We may be wearing out our welcome at the church because we have tendency to leave graphite behind on the floors which is very hard to clean. We are considering moving it Green YMCA next year.

April 2006: YMCA Partners with Youth Fundraiser

For the second year we committed a $1000 to sponsor a table at the Green YMCA’s partners with youth fundraiser. A table gave us 10 tickets which were offered to Nation leaders. Scott “Singin’ Moose” Summers provided the entertainment and got four more tickets as payment for his services. Our relationship with the YMCA continues to be very strong which is helped by our efforts to support their fundraising efforts.

May 2006: Spring Campout at Camp Y-Noah

We returned to Camp Y- Noah for the Spring Campout. Camp Y-Noah is our local camp grounds so it is important that we continue to support them. It is one of the nicest YMCA camps within our driving area so we will probably continue to go there for our spring campout for years to come. The only drawback (on major advantage if your kids are involved with spring sports) is that the campground is so close to home. This leads to lots of people coming and going to local events in the Green community. Friday night was rained out but we set up a projections TV and satellite dish and watched a Cav’s playoff game in the mess hall. By the end of the game the weather cleared up and was great really nice until Sunday morning when the rain returned and chased us home. The Navajo tribe did a great job sponsoring the campout. After the Cherokee Tribe won the Nation Games, we brought out our new four way tug a war rope and about killed many of the out of shape Big Braves that represent most of the nation. Jeff Williamson again donated the prizes for the ever popular fishing we appreciate his support and commitment to the Nation. For our fire ceremony, we returned to the beach and this time we had the entire council, including sons, enter on canoes. It was a spectacular backdrop for the ceremony and the Navajo tribe made a great fire with lots of cool colors added. Nation Chief Pat “Running Bull” Duff swore in one of the largest class of new braves in recent history.

May 2006: Memorial Day Parade

We once again marched in the Green Memorial Day parade and had a nice turnout. We need more trucks to carry the kids next year and we need to figure out a way to make the candy last longer.

June 2006: Akron Aeros Minor League Baseball Game (with fireworks)

The Kickapoo tribe once again made this a great event. Tom Turner and his group were able to get Children’s hospital to set us up with food and tables for a pre-game party. Then after the game we were treated to a spectacular fireworks display. For as long as we continue to do this even we need to do it on a fireworks night.

June: ACS Relay For Life

We continued to co-op with the Indian Princesses to create a team that helps raise funds for the American Cancer Society. It is primarily a Princess event but we provide money for the food that we cook and sell at the event. We also provide needed manpower to help cook and sell food and to walk on the track. This is a very worthy cause and the Nation needs to continue to support this event. This year we agreed to count it as a make-up event and a community service make up event for kids that missed the Christmas project. We also rewarded participating tribes with medicine points

July 2006: Budget Meeting

We broke from a long standing tradition of doing the budget meeting on a Sunday afternoon in June and decided to combine it with the July Longhouse. We met in the Mosquito infested back yard of Nation Chief Pat “Running Bull” Duff. We cooked burgers and brats and had a decent supply of Moose Juice available. We spent about $150 on food and drink but it was a good change from doing two meetings in July.

July 2006: Canoe Trip and optional Campout

Our July event was a family canoe trip in Canal Fulton with an optional campout in Nimisila State Park. The canoe portion was well attended for a July event but only a few families camped out. Summer is a hard time to get people together for an event like this but it was worth a try

August 2006: Drive In Movie

We tried this event in 2005 and it was very well received. This is an easy summer event which are not traditionally that well attended. This year we went to a drive in theater that had multiple movies simultaneously which broke us up and did not do as well as the previous year. If we do the event again we need to make sure to pick the right movie which can be difficult because the drive-ins don’t set up their schedule more than a week or two in advance.

September 2006: Fall Campout at Tippecanoe

For our fall campout we will return to Camp Tippecanoe which is an hour south past the Dover / New Philadelphia area. Details of the event will be documented in next year’s history,