snowfarmer Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 As long as I have been with our Troop (going on 4 years) we have done our own call-outs, usually at campouts. It is very difficult to get our boys to Council events because of the drive time - usually 3-4 hours one way. Our electees are then scheduled into Ordeal at Council spring or fall fellowships. Since our Council does not have a summer resident camp, that is not a solution. Council call-outs are done at rendezvous, merit badge rally, etc. We can't help it if we're a long ways from Council HQ. The question is, is it cool to have our own call-out as long as we are following national protocol? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdutch Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 I am not 100% sure about this, but I believe that as long as you get approval from your Chapter/Lodge it is ok. I am not sure if you would be allowed to do it without there approval. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr56 Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 I have done this a few times with my troop in the past. Unless I am way off base, the call out is to notify the boys of who has been elected into the order. One year my troop simply announced their names at a meeting, I felt a proper ceremony was more fitting such a solemn occasion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGreyEagle Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 How about having the Lodge/Chapter Chief come to a campout or special outdoor meeting? If Mohammed cant come to the mountain, maybe the mountain, well you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AwHeck Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 I'm curious where in Colorado you are, I thought all the councils in Colorado had summer camps, we've been to several of them Since we frequently go "out of council" for our summer camp, we often do our own call-out so I don't think there's any prohibition on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wojauwe Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 Call out is not a required event.It's simply a ceremonial way of informing new candidates.It's neat to have a ceremony that recognises them and encourages them to attend the required Ordeal within next calendar year.It's not something they have to go through.There are no requirements on this. There has been talk of National,putting out a standardised ceremony since there are as many or more call out ceremonies as there are chapters. The thought is by standadiseing it,we can be insured that the ceremony is conistant with OA traditions. Sorry off the point.Your troop doing callout because it's difficult to get candidates to Lodge event is fine,it's better than just getting the letter in the mail,which is all that is required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wojauwe Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 Call out is not a required event.It's simply a ceremonial way of informing new candidates.It's neat to have a ceremony that recognises them and encourages them to attend the required Ordeal within next calendar year.It's not something they have to go through.There are no requirements on this. There has been talk of National,putting out a standardised ceremony since there are as many or more call out ceremonies as there are chapters. The thought is by standadiseing it,we can be insured that the ceremony is conistant with OA traditions. Sorry off the point.Your troop doing callout because it's difficult to get candidates to Lodge event is fine,it's better than just getting the letter in the mail,which is all that is required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wojauwe Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 Dang,got to quit double clicking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdutch Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 From the Guide to Inductions: "The call-out is a key element of the induction sequence. Lodges should ensure that every candidate elected to become a member of the OA has the opportunity to attend a call-out and be recognized. Although it is not mandatory for a candidate to attend a call-out ceremony in order to participate in the Ordeal, call-outs are a key element in the induction sequence. Therefore, lodges and chapters should make every effort to provide call-outs at unit meetings or at other times for candidates who cannot attend their scheduled call-out" (had to copy by hand so there may be a typo or two) Based on this I would change my answer to that you can hold your own, but I would still recomend that you contact your lodge/chapter and see if they will hold one at your campout for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleWB Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 In our Lodge the Unit Election team does the call-out ceremony the night of the election. After the call-out the team can then get all the paperwork filled out and it can then be turned in to the Membership committee or the Ordeal Master. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Eagle Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 The call-out is something that the lodge has authority over. If the lodge wishes it can grant a unit permission to hold its own call-out. However, it would be proper to seek permission before doing this. Part of the reason for doing this is to make certain the lodge is aware of who these candidates are and that they have been called out. Lodges need to know these things. Just to illustrate the point, as of this year, due to OA Operations Update 05-05 a troop going out of council must now have permission from the home lodge to have the out of council lodge do a call out at camp. To be specific, there must be a letter signed by both the lodge advisor and lodge chief for this purpose. Anything less and the boys from out of council can not be called out. Also, the lodge doing the call out must then follow up and inform the home lodges of who exactly was called out. I suspect if you ask for your lodge/chapters assistance in conducting a call out at a unit meeting or a troop camp out they will be glad to assist in some way. Maybe all they can do is giver their blessing and a copy of the call-out script your lodge uses. Or perhaps they can provide a team to do the call-out. You will never know unless you ask. Now if I am remembering my unit elections procedures correctly, the candidates may be informed at any time after the election is complete. So there is nothing wrong with telling the candidates. On the other hand it is a bit questionable to have a true ceremony without the blessing of the lodge. (When I say ceremony I am thinking Native American regalia, drumming, torches, etc.,) Also, if you do conduct a call-out you MUST FOLLOW NATIONAL GUIDELINES. For more on that see the current edition of the Guide for Officers and Advisors, and more importantly, the Guide to Inductions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wojauwe Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 We do call out at our Spring camporee.We are encouraged to let candidates know as soon as they are elected to give time to plan going to ordeal our first ordeal is 2 weeks after camporee.Still we leave it up to troops since it's tradition in some troops to let it be a surprise when they are called off to ceremony site for callout.We make sure parents know though so they can work it in to schedule and try to insure that candidates make it to callout. We take care of paperwork as soon as election is done and get it turned in to lodge well before call out.This definitely has to take place no matter who does the callout. A formal ceremonial call out I feel to be the best way to go.Lodges have different dynamics depending on population densities,strength of lodge or chapter ceremonial programs.If at all possible chapter or lodge should do the callout. Sometimes the resources are not there and you do the best with what you have. I'm lucky our chapter has a very strong ceremonies program and we are in a very dense population center so it's not a big strain for people to make it to chapter callout. I know chapters though who are 50miles from side to side and have half dozen members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynda J Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 Our District still does Tap Outs. THey are done at our Spring Camporee. It is beautiful. I cried this year since Kevin was tapped out. He got to do his Ordeal on his 12 birthday. Not seem him much more excited about anything in a while. We had 4 boys and our SM tapped out in March. But I think the Tap Out/Call Out is a very importanat part of the OA process. There were 22 boys tapped this spring and there were almost 100 boys there to watch, including 6 boys in our troop who had just crossed over. When the OA members came around and tapped the boys their eyes were as big as dinner plated. Very impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrp1488 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I know this thread is a bit old but I've only been in the OA a year. Our troop used to wait til summer camp. Occasionally the boys weren't there. I've been to some call-outs at camporee. These seem to last forever. There are so many boys being called out. The younger scouts get very restless. The last two we have done in the troop at courts of honor. It's smaller and seems to have more mystique. Also, it made it a lot easier for the parents to watch. The first one we borrowed regalia from another scouter and the second was a mixture of borrowed and some we are starting to make on our own. We also had an OA themed Eagle ceremony which was quite impressive. Based on past experience, I really recommend the more intimate atmosphere of unit call-outs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dg98adams Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 "including 6 boys in our troop who had just crossed over" How did they get the 15 days of camping and 1st Class if they just crossed over Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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