order of the oar

Someone will have to tell me where our version of "The Order of the Oar" came from and when it began. I just remember it here always. Maybe it came to us from the Navy (through some Navy/Wawayanda guy), maybe from a fraternity. Maybe it's just an Old Wawayanda thing. A birthday ritual: he or she celebrating a birthday gets summoned by staff marching around the dining hall with an oar, chanting over and over: We are, we are, we are, we are, the Order of the Oar, whereupon the celebrated one is brought to the front, tossed in the air, and paddled a number of times equal to the number of years on the planet. This just happened, as it has for--how many? 50? 80? years--just now, no more than 10 minutes ago. For Kirsten Williams, a Junior Counselor, 17 years young. Almost certainly the record for this is 101 tosses. And it was I who got tossed that many times. During our 2001 Wawayanda centennial reunion, several former Wawayanda directors were brought to the front, and I was chosen to receive the 101 paddlings, one each for a year of Wawayanda's history, plus one for good measure.

These days--thankfully--this particular celebration is only done for staff and it's optional even for them.