Brothers of SR-7B,

Due to recent updates with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Council of Chiefs has made the difficult decision to cancel the postponed 2020 Conclave, scheduled to take place August 28th-30th. Although we were very much looking forward to gathering for brotherhood and fellowship across the Section, the health and safety of our delegates is our top priority and we do not foresee any feasible way of holding this event while upholding the health and safety of our delegates. Refunds for conclave will be processed automatically in the next few weeks. Memorabilia will not be refunded and will be sent to each lodge for distribution to members.

Our focus is now shifting to planning the 2021 Conclave, scheduled for April 16th -18th. The 2021 Conclave will take place at Camp Bowers and Klahican Lodge will be the Service Lodge for this event. This will change the rotation for future conclaves. The new rotation will proceed as follows:

2022 Conclave: Nayawin Rar Lodge
2023 Conclave: Croatan Lodge
2024 Conclave: Wahissa Lodge
2025 Conclave: Tsoiotsi Tsogalii Lodge
2026 Conclave: Occoneechee Lodge

To elect the 2020-21 Section Officers, a teleconference will be held on Thursday, July 30th at 8:00 p.m. EDT. To join this call and cast a vote for Section Office, Youth Arrowmen (under 21 on July 30th at 8:00 pm) must pre-register using this form by 11:59 p.m. on July 29th. On the day of the call, teleconference information will be sent to those who have pre-registered. Youth Arrowmen who wish to run for section office must submit a letter of affirmation from their Scout Executive by 11:59 p.m. on July 28th. These letters can be sent to Section Adviser Brett Warner at brett@brettwarner.com. During the call, candidates will have an opportunity to make a two-minute speech and questions for the candidates may be submitted via the pre-registration form as well as in the chat feature during the call. Following the speeches and the question forum, voting will take place via a form sent out during the call based upon information indicated in the pre-registration form.

While disappointed that we will not be able to hold the 2020 Conclave, I am appreciative of the efforts of the Council of Chiefs, Section Officers, and Service Lodge in planning this event. Please stay tuned as the 2021 Conclave planning team begins their work. I hope to see you all there!

Ethan Syster
Section Chief

Good Afternoon Occoneechee Lodge,

It is with great sadness that we announce the 2020 Occoneechee Lodge 104 Trade-O-Ree scheduled to take place August 21-22 at Camp Durant in Carthage, NC has been canceled. The cancellation is due to a wide array of factors resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. We know that this is tough to hear for many of you, as this would have been one of the few TORs to take place in 2020.

The Trade-O-Ree Team has spent the past weeks discussing the proposed event with lodge and council leadership, County, and State health officials to see if we could safely hold the event. We considered many different options to make the event possible. But in the end, we decided to cancel this year’s event based on feedback, restrictions, and most importantly the safety of our vendors, patrons, and Scouts.

All those who registered for either a table, cabin, or meal ticket will be issued a full refund. Refunds will take place over the next 1-2 weeks. Refund time for those who paid by check could take a little longer, as the lodge will have to have the council issue a check. If you would like to roll your registration over to the 2021 TOR, you can do that. Just email Matt Breneman at mkbreneman@aol.com.

Stay safe and we look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Brothers,

Here is the process that will be used to issue refunds for NOAC.  

First I ask each of you to complete the survey that was sent regarding the Momentum event to be held at the Summit in August.  If you wish to attend that, we will transfer your NOAC payments to that event.  You have until the 15th of May to decide if this is something you wish to do, I expect that there will be more information about the event coming from National.  As soon as we receive information we will pass it along to you to help you make your decision.  In the event that there are more interested in attending Momentum than National allows the size of our contingent to be, we will use the date that you registered for NOAC as the determining cut-off.

For those who have no interest in going to Momentum, just check no on the survey and return it.  We are going to cross-check the amounts that you have paid and ask the Council to cut and mail checks to you for the full amount.  Please keep in mind that due to Covid-19 things are not running as quickly in the council office as normal. Because of this, a reasonable expectation for receiving the check is closer to the end of June than right now.

Thank you for the commitment you made, and I’m sorry that we won’t be able to go to Michigan State this year, but I look forward to seeing some of you at the Summit.

Carlton McKee

2020 Lodge 104 NOAC Advisor

P. S.  There have been 4 responses from the survey already that express an interest in attending Momentum  

​

This event has both lodge members and ordeal candidates, so we have two different refund processes depending on who you are. Please select the instructions best suited for you. 

Greetings,

Due to the ongoing circumstances regarding the COVID-19 virus, Spring Inductions has been canceled. The safety of our members is our number one priority. The Lodge Leadership is continuing to monitor the situation and is following the guidelines put in place by the Governor of NC and the Boy Scouts of America.

We will be in touch soon regarding refunds to those who were registered for the event.

We look forward to better times and wish you all good health!

WWW,

Parker Morrissette, Lodge Chief

Keith Biegert, Lodge Adviser

NOAC Delegates,

It is with deep sadness we inform you that the 2020 National Order of the Arrow Conference has been cancelled out of concern for the safety of all attending Arrowmen, as well as the Michigan State University and East Lansing communities.

Many factors were considered in making this difficult decision. We worked closely with both the local health department and Michigan State University, and determined that it was impossible under current and anticipated conditions to hold a safe and exciting NOAC. We also took into account the economic toll COVID-19 has taken on Arrowmen and their families, and came to realize that we may not be able to offer a NOAC experience consistent with our high standards for national conferences. Like you, we are disappointed that we will not be gathering in person this summer, but we are not discouraged and fully believe this is the right decision.

Contingent members and staff will receive a full refund of all conference fees paid to-date to the national Order of the Arrow office, including the non-refundable deposit. These refunds will be issued as credits to your local council. Specific instructions on how to handle these refunds will be available in the next several days. Contingent members should also check with their contingent leaders for information about refunds for funds collected by the lodge beyond the conference fee, including travel.

The spirit of our brotherhood remains true whether we meet in-person or not. We see it every time we witness a virtual lodge meeting, visit an online section conclave, and hear about a virtual unit election. With that in mind, we also will be hosting a virtual event during the first week of August. Top of mind for this virtual event is how Arrowmen and the Order of the Arrow can quickly adapt to society’s new reality while maintaining our core values and purpose. More information about this virtual event will be released in the coming weeks.

In light of the extended period of camping restrictions attributable to COVID-19, the following temporary modification is being made to the camping requirements for OA eligibility:

Virtual camping (i.e., backyard or solo camping) may be counted toward the required nights of camping for OA election eligibility if all the following stipulations are met:

– To be counted, all virtual camping nights should be a direct result of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and be part of a BSA unit-organized unit camping event (i.e., multiple members of the unit are involved and camping simultaneously at remote locations).

– Some form of unit-organized communications should occur either during or immediately following the event.

– All existing youth protection policies and digital safety guidelines should be followed.

– No more than 3 nights of virtual camping are to be credited in any month in which government- or council-imposed COVID-19 restrictions are in place.

This change is in effect until September 1, 2020.

Units which have already held an election between March 1, 2020 and April 30, 2020 are authorized to hold one additional election for any individuals who were ineligible at the time of the election due to the camping requirement, but would have been considered eligible at the time if this temporary policy had then been in effect.  This second election must be completed no later than July 1, 2020.  Those who were previously considered for election in the first election may not be reconsidered on this second ballot (i.e., no one can be considered for election more than once in a year).​

The Lodge Leadership is still evaluating the status of Spring Inductions and is following current COVID-19 guidelines from the Governor of NC and the Boy Scouts of America. We expect to make a decision at the end of next week and will communicate that right away.

We will be in contact with you regarding any changes to the status of Spring Inductions. We look forward to better times and hope that you all stay healthy.

Sincerely,

Parker Morrissette, Lodge Chief

Keith Biegert, Lodge Adviser

Don’t forget, Conclave will still be happening from August 28th-30th at Camp Bowers! If you were already registered for Conclave, no need to worry, your registration has automatically been transferred and we can’t wait to see you there! If for some reason you are unable to attend Conclave follow the instructions below to learn how to refund your registration.

To cancel your Conclave registration and request a refund due to the COVID-19 Virus, please fill out the form found using the button below. Please have your order confirmation number ready. Your order confirmation number can be found in the subject of the confirmation email sent after you registered. The subject of this email begins with “2020 SR-7B Cardinal Conclave Registration Confirmation”. You can include multiple order numbers if you’d like to request refunds for family members.

You will receive a confirmation once your request has been processed. Please allow 5-10 days after this confirmation for the refund to appear on your account statement through your financial institution.

Please note: Only the event fee and delegate fee will be refunded. Memorabilia and processing fee for Conclave are non-refundable. If you cancel your registration that has memorabilia items attached to the order, your items will be available for pickup through your lodge after Conclave. Your lodge will provide pickup details at a later date.

The Lodge Executive Committee has voted to institute National’s policy of virtual unit elections. The Lodge and Chapters will be following the national guidelines posted here. If you are a unit leader please go to our unit election page to request a unit election. The chapter will respond back to your request with instructions on how to hold a virtual unit election.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National OA Committee has approved the following “candidates that were elected February 1, 2019, through September 1, 2020, will have 24 months from the date of election to complete their ordeal.” This is a change from the typical 12-month rule. Occoneechee Lodge is currently working on updating our registration system to allow this change. Our 2021 ordeal event dates will be posted at a later time this year but will most likely fall on the third weekend of May and September of 2021.

Dear Conclave Participants,

I hope you and your family are safe and healthy amidst the current COVID-19 (novel Coronavirus) pandemic. This unprecedented situation has affected nearly all aspects of our daily lives and as you may be aware, earlier this week the Order of the Arrow suspended all in-person national, region, and section events until May 2nd.  As a result of this decision and in accordance with guidance from the CDC, the Section SR-7B 2020 Cardinal Conclave will be postponed to the weekend of August 28-30, 2020. The postponed Conclave will still take place at Camp Bowers in White Oak, NC.

We share your disappointment in not having the event as scheduled but see postponing as the best option given current guidance from the Order of the Arrow and the CDC. This decision will allow us to ensure the health and safety of our delegates at Conclave, which is always our top priority, while also providing the fun and fellowship that SR-7B’s Cardinal Conclave is known for.

As for registration for the postponed Conclave, if you are currently registered for Conclave, your registration will transfer to the postponed event and you do not need to take any further action. If you are currently registered for Conclave but unable to attend the postponed date, we will be processing refund requests at https://sr7b.org/conclave. We ask that you give us a few days to prepare our website to receive these refund requests. Once the site is prepared and we are actively accepting refund requests, you will be notified as soon as possible. We thank you for your patience as we work through this unprecedented situation. We will not be issuing refunds for memorabilia or the convenience fees associated with paying online. Rather, we will only be issuing refunds for the registration fees of those who can no longer attend Conclave as a result of postponing the event.

Our decision to postpone Conclave will obviously lead to numerous additional questions and we are currently working hard to address these questions in a timely manner. As more information becomes available, we will update you as soon as possible. In the meantime, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.

Finally, please take this time to focus on the wellness of you and your family and remember the spirit of cheerful service as we navigate these difficult times. While I will certainly miss the fun and fellowship of Conclave next month, I look forward to seeing you all when we Soar Higher at Camp Bowers in August!

Dear Spring Pow-Wow Attendee,

As you have hopefully heard by now, our Spring Pow-wow event, originally scheduled for March 20-22, has been canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. As a registered participant of the event, you have the following choices regarding your already paid registration fee. While we explore options for a possible reschedule we want to give you these opportunities now. If the event is rescheduled then there will be a new registration.

You can:

1. Do nothing. We will move your registration for you to Spring Inductions. If you have already registered for Spring Inductions we will move it to Fall Fellowship automatically. If you are already registered for Fall Fellowship please choose step 3 or do nothing and automatically donate the fee to the lodge.
2. If you prefer that your registration be moved to Fall Fellowship manually over Spring Inductions automatically, please request this.
3. Request a refund.

If you are seeking a refund please let us know by March 31st at 11:59 pm. If we do not hear from you by then we will automatically move your registration as outlined above.

We cannot apply your registration to a Conclave registration.

Future Event Dates

• Spring Inductions: May 15th – 17th, 2020
• Fall Fellowship: September 18th – 20th, 2020

What you need to do:

The button below takes you to our support website where you have options to transfer your registration to a future event or request a refund. Again, please do this by March 31st at 11:59 pm.

Yours in Cheerful Service,

Parker Morrissette, 2020 Lodge Chief

Note: You must maintain BSA Registration and YPT Status to attend our events in 2020.

Brothers,

Given the recent guidance from the Governor of NC and the Boy Scouts of America the Lodge has reevaluated the decision to hold the Spring Powwow event planned for March 20th. We are joining our fellow Lodges in Section SR-7B and hereby cancelling our March event which includes the Webelos OA Overnighter.

Any Arrowman that was registered for the event will receive a separate email with additional details regarding registration fees. The Lodge Leadership is currently exploring rescheduling options.

Information regarding events scheduled beyond March will be communicated as soon as it is known but please do keep in mind that this is an evolving situation. We look forward to better times and hope that you all stay healthy.

Sincerely,

Parker Morrissette, Lodge Chief

Keith Biegert, Lodge Adviser

Brothers,

The Lodge leadership is aware of the concerns and questions surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak as well as the cancellations of several events, school classes, etc.

We are mindful of these events and the concerns they raise but do not believe that our upcoming Spring Pow-Wow will increase the risks to anyone if proper precautions are taken by all attendees. Spring Pow-Wow will go on as planned.

But please take precautions. Do not attend if you believe you are sick or have been around someone that has been sick. If you are concerned about being exposed please feel free to not attend. If you have any questions please contact: support@lodge104.com

We are looking forward to having a great Spring Pow-Wow.

WWW,

Parker Morrissette, Lodge Chief, 

Keith Biegert, Lodge Adviser