TOTANHAN NAKAHA LODGE / THE ORDER OF THE ARROW, COVID-19 UPDATE FALL 2020
It is our desire to continue providing programs and service to units and members as much as is possible while minimizing risk to participants.
As Scouting’s National Honor Society, the purpose of the Order of the Arrow is to:
- Recognize those who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives and through that recognition cause others to conduct themselves in a way that warrants similar recognition.
- Promote camping, responsible outdoor adventure, and environmental stewardship as essential components of every Scout’s experience, in the unit, year-round, and in summer camp.
- Develop leaders with the willingness, character, spirit and ability to advance the activities of their units, our Brotherhood, Scouting, and ultimately our nation.
- Crystallize the Scout habit of helpfulness into a life purpose of leadership in cheerful service to others.
CALLING OUT OF CANDIDATES
This summer, the opportunity to gather for a camp-wide call out ceremony was not possible, and some units were unable to attend camp. To address this, Totanhan Nakaha Lodge is providing the following:
Members inducted in 2020 and 2021 will be extended an invitation to be called out publicly at a camp-wide campfire at summer camp in the summer of 2021, as circumstances allow. This invitation will be extended even if a candidate has completed their ordeal in the intervening time.
INDUCTIONS
Currently, we are planning to hold in-person Fall Induction Conclaves. Letters to Ordeal candidates will be arriving shortly with event registration information. In drafting our fall plan, we have followed Northern Star Scouting, state, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The current schedule is located on the registration site here: https://scoutingevent.com/250-2020conclaves. Events are labelled with the name of the legacy chapters, but are open to any member. Please preregister for your event – walk in registrations will not be allowed for our Fall Induction Conclaves this year. It is possible that changes will need to be made to our Fall Induction Conclave plan in order to reflect future conditions. Any changes will be communicated directly to event registrants.
Due to the need to adhere to social distancing during our Fall Induction Conclaves, the lodge has made the difficult to decision to separate Brotherhood conversion from our Induction Conclaves. An alternative option for Ordeal members pursuing Brotherhood will be communicated later this fall. Additionally, returning Arrowmen registering to attend a Fall Induction Conclave should be prepared to serve in a staff capacity, or at a minimum be placed in a small group during their participation in the event in order to adhere to social distancing best practices.
For candidates unable or uneasy about attending the events this fall, the national committee has extended the induction eligibility for members for members elected in both our previous and current unit election cycle to 24 months. We will be carrying forward the candidates elected during this period accordingly.
ELECTION ELIGIBILITY
The national committee has made several temporary changes to the requirements eligibility to stand for election to the Order of the Arrow. These changes are currently in effect until Sept 1, 2020. To summarize:
- Virtual camping (i.e., backyard or solo camping) may be counted toward the required nights of camping for OA election eligibility if all stipulations are met.
- For scouts unable to attend a long-term camp due to closure or health concerns, there are alternatives available.
More details may be found at https://oa-bsa.org/coronavirus.
TOTANHAN NAKAHA LODGE WEBSITE
You may have noticed that our traditional home online is no longer accessible. To enhance our site security and functionality, we are working on migrating our online presence to a new platform. In the meantime, the Totanhan Nakaha Lodge will use this page (northernstar.org/order-of-the-arrow-totanhan-nakaha-lodge) on the Northern Star Scouting website as the source for Order of the Arrow news, event information, and important documents. Thank you for your understanding.