Ordeal. Maybe

[Oldscout448]

Our chapter ordeal has been re-rescheduled for June 19-21.  I have no way of knowing of this will be possible in our little state of Maryland, but ya gotta aim at something. Now there are a few new problems  this year of course. First,  We have no real idea how many candidates will attend.  It's normally 65. But how many will decide to wait until next year? Half?  Can't use our usual location so a number of decisions are going to have to be made of the fly.  But if the high adventure camps are open some of our best and most experienced scouts will be staffing there.  A new ring and trail needs to be made, and we are still under a lockdown edict. Only allowed out for food, booze, meds,and exercise.  Fun times!   

Doing my best to serve cheerfully, 

Oldscout

[malraux]

To be fair, while local camps might happen, high adventure ones are going to be less popular. And ordeal seems more compatible with social distancing rules. 

[PACAN]

I saw where virtual camp outs will count toward OA camping requirements.  

[walk in the woods]

29 minutes ago, PACAN said:

I saw where virtual camp outs will count toward OA camping requirements.  

Apparently so, https://oa-bsa.org/coronavirus/temporary-camping-night-policy-due-covid-19

[Oldscout448]

If anyone is interested, our ordeal is a go!  Only 10 days away now and it's been an frustrating, exhausting, inspiring, experience trying to get the ceremonies part up and running.  

Our normal camp is off limits now so...

Find a site, clear a ring (BIG fallen trees to move) figure out where the trails go, clear and mark them.  Read all the new safety protocols, come up with some ideas how to implement them. At the first rehearsal realize that half of them aren't going to work.  Back to the drawing board.  Realize the ring isn't big enough to keep everyone apart, enlarge it.  Find out a lot more candidates registered than you guesstimated, enlarge it again.  

All with 75% of the numbers we had pre pandemic.

But some of the scouts are just extraordinary!  They just keep showing up, working like beavers two, three, even four times a week. Sometimes all afternoon sometimes they can only stay for an hour.  Practicing ceremonies after dark. Pushing each other to excel.  I tell you brethren they are a true inspiration!

If scouting is indeed ending, at least around here it's going out on one heck of a high note.

Edited October 15, 2020 by Oldscout448

[mashmaster]

Our recent Ordeal happened with reduced capacity and it worked out well.

[qwazse]

Our lodge had theirs this weekend. I think 100 candidates.

[MattR]

On 10/15/2020 at 1:03 PM, Oldscout448 said:

Find a site, clear a ring (BIG fallen trees to move) figure out where the trails go, clear and mark them.  Read all the new safety protocols, come up with some ideas how to implement them. At the first rehearsal realize that half of them aren't going to work.  Back to the drawing board.  Realize the ring isn't big enough to keep everyone apart, enlarge it.  Find out a lot more candidates registered than you guesstimated, enlarge it again.  

All with 75% of the numbers we had pre pandemic.

But some of the scouts are just extraordinary!  They just keep showing up, working like beavers two, three, even four times a week. Sometimes all afternoon by they can only stay for an hour.  Practicing ceremonies after dark. Pushing each other to excel.  I tell you brethren they are a true inspiration!

I just read this. Thank you for the inspiration. Sounds like these scouts have created a great memory for themselves. I hope the ceremony is (was?) a success.

[Oldscout448]

A success?  Well mostly. The modifications worked pretty well although the candidates stepping forward one at a time, quietly giving the admonition to Allowat, and putting on their own sashes took about 30 seconds each. In our rehearsal the "candidates" only took 15. Of course they already knew what to say.  So even though we skipped the song and only demonstrated the handclasp the ceremonies took longer than we planned. In addition the guides leading the first group of candidates somehow took a wrong turn on the trail leading to the circle of our lodge. Which delayed us 15? minutes right from the start.  

Dinner was ready at 6:00,  but the second ceremony didn't end until 6:17 I'm not sure how long it took for the hungry new members to walk to the feast as I stayed at the ring setting up for the Brotherhood ceremony.

The biggest issue turned out to be quite unexpected. We had guessed at 50 candidates divided into two ceremonies so the ring was made big enough to hold 25 candidates in a semicircle so that they all had a clear line of sight of the principals.  We believed this to be critical to allow them to see and hear the gestures and words of the speakers.  

The actual number of candidates however was 72, so the two weekends before the ordeal enlarging the ring to accommodate 36 became a priority.  More cutting, raking, and bench building.

But when the first group of candidates arrived at the ring there were only 31! Which meant that the second ceremony had 41. And THAT meant no matter which way any of the principals faced there was someone who certainly couldn't hear or see him very well.   I don't know why the groups were offset that way. I do know that the ring building crew was simply furious. All that work...And the rope only had 37 loops, six feet apart 

The candidates had been separated into 7 work groups during the day so perhaps it was logistically easier to first send 3 groups, then later 4 groups.  But it certainly makes it much more difficult to convince scouts that the ceremonies are important and deserve excellence  when the "higher ups" clearly demonstrate that they care little and less.

 

Tired of shoveling water upstream,

Oldscout

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by Oldscout448