Information For Conclave 2021

Fellow wearers of the arrow, Greetings and Salutations!

We hope this finds each of you well, staying safe, and keeping those you are in contact with safe.

Our next major event is our annual Conclave where we will gather with our sisters and brothers from lodges from around Georgia and Alabama. The scuttlebutt is that there will possibly be some current national leadership there as well. After having to go on a sort of hiatus in 2020, it will be good to share time with others who have accepted the obligation to provide leadership and service to our lodges, councils, units, and all Scouts and Scouters.

Here are some details for those of you that will be a part of the Mowogo Lodge contingent at this Conclave for you to prepare for:

First, from our Section Adviser, Brother Greg Moore of Coosa Lodge, are the precautions for keeping other participants and yourselves safe in light of our current public health concern:

• Each individual is responsible to follow the current local guidelines, socially distance themselves, wash their hands and wear masks as required. A new bath house has been constructed and has individual bathrooms. Each lodge is responsible to manage the COVID declarations each participant is expected to complete and to ensure that their members tent only with close family members.
• I believe that temperature checks are part of the check in process, so ensure that your members understand that if they have a fever of 100 or more, they should not attend and will be turned away.
• Meals will be served in clamshells. I am sure that Withlacoochee will have hand sanitizer available. There won’t be enough seating for everyone at one time in the Vulcan Pavilion, but there is room to spread out into other pavilions close by, or bring your own chair and sit under the trees.
• The amphitheater doesn’t have enough socially distant seating for all registered participants, so bringing your own chairs or planning to stand will be necessary.
• Bottom line: lodges will need to ensure your members understand the expectations of their participation, and each individual will need to understand that while we are doing many things to mitigate the risk, we cannot eliminate it. Neither the section officers/advisers, nor the service lodge will be policing your members’ behavior. As a general statement, should a concern be brought to my attention about a given lodge’s member(s), I will bring that to the lodge adviser in question to address.

Attached to this email is a “Participant Statement” and a “Covid-19 Pre-Screening Questionnaire” for you to review and use to prepare for this event.

Also, you will need to provide your own tenting and bedding for this event.

No matter what we might personally believe or think about the state of the public health situation we are living through today, as Scouts and Scouters we believe in concerning ourselves with the concerns and beliefs of others. As we share time and space with our fellow sisters and brothers from Georgia and Alabama, please remember that we have dedicated ourselves…

“…to be unselfish in the service and devotion to the welfare of others…”

While there is much to reflect on in that part of our obligation, please take some time and think about how others view you in the course of your daily life. What does really mean to be unselfish, not just when we wear our uniforms but every day? What does it really mean to devote ourselves to the welfare of others? And how can we demonstrate both in relation to the current public health situation with other members of the Order from around our Section? How do we treat others who may not or do not share our exact beliefs? I would say that our responses to these questions may shed light on our understanding of the Scout Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan as well as the ideals of the Order of the Arrow.

If you have signed up for this coming Conclave that is being hosted by the Withlacoochee Lodge that serves the South Georgia Council, please read through these attached documents. There will probably be more information coming soon and we will pass that along as it is shared. If you haven’t signed up yet to come, registration is still open and the cost will be $60 and youu can register here: Conclave | Section SR-9 (sr-9.org). The Conclave will be held at Camp Patten (247 E Burnt Church Rd, Lakeland, GA 31635) and will last from Friday evening through most of Sunday morning.

We expect to have Mowogo Lodge members participating in ceremonies, dancing, and various training presentations. Two of our youth are serving as program chairs for this Conclave so let’s be prepared to support them in these important roles as well. As we deal with the adaptations to be prepared to keep each other and ourselves safe, please practice patience and understanding as we make this journey and share fellowship with others celebrating our traditions and the practice of our shared values.

Yours in Cheerfulness,

Rusty Royston
Lodge Adviser, Mowogo Lodge
Northeast Georgia Council, BSA