Tonkawa Lodge COVID-19 Response Plan – April 5 Release
April 5, 2020
Lodge Program Calendar Revisions
Considering national-level policy decisions, major alterations to the lodge annual program calendar will not be necessary. The 2020-2021 Draft Calendar is below:
| Date | Event | Location |
| July 17-18 | Summer Ordeal | LPSR |
| July 17-19 | Conclave | UIW |
| August 3-7 | NOAC | MSU |
| September 13 | September LEC | Fickett |
| October 2-4 | Fall Assembly + LEC | LPSR |
| October 4 | Fall Business Meeting | LPSR |
| November 7 | LLD + LEC | Fickett |
| November 14 | One Day of Service | TBD |
| December 12-13 | Winter Vigil | LPSR |
| December 13 | December LEC | Fickett |
| January 16 | Lodge Banquet + LEC | TBD |
| February 6 | Report to State | Austin |
| February 12-14 | Ceremonies Workshop + LEC | LPSR |
| February 20 | LPSR Tree Planting | LPSR |
| March 12-13 | Fellowship + LEC | TBD |
| April 11 | April LEC | Fickett |
| May 7-9 | Spring Assembly + LEC | LPSR |
| May 9 | Spring Business Meeting | LPSR |
| May 14-15 | Spring Vigil | LPSR |
Lodge Officer Elections
In light of the cancellation of the Spring Business Meeting, and in order to best ensure adequate representation of each chapter, lodge officer elections will be rescheduled to the Fall. The current officers, elected in Spring of 2019, will continue to serve until Fall Assembly 2020. The 2020-2021 Officers will be elected at the 2020 Fall Business Meeting and inaugurated at Lodge Leadership Development in the fall. A letter of candidacy intent for lodge chief will be due to the lodge adviser by September 1, 2020. The 2021-2022 Officers will be elected at the 2021 Spring Business Meeting and be inaugurated at Lodge Leadership Development in fall of 2021. Officers-elect will be responsible for recruiting chairmen and executives between their election and inauguration.
Unit Elections
For any unit that has not yet completed their elections, a virtual election may be conducted, preferably through Zoom Video Communications, contingent upon the approval of unit, lodge, and council leadership. The election team will use forms and videos, and votes must be collected confidentially. Any electronic voting mechanism must ensure no more than one vote per voter. If not using the internal voting system offered by Zoom, it is recommended that elections teams use Google Forms to conduct the election in a secure manner. In alignment with national policy, no open vote counting is to be allowed. Refer to most recent editions of the Guide for Officers and Advisers and the Guide to Unit Elections for current election procedure and guidelines.
Candidate Callout
Each chapter will have full discretion to determine how they wish to recognize candidates. Chapters can make a district-wide announcement, virtually visit each unit to announce, or delegate the recognition to unit leadership. Ideally, a consistent approach will be used with all units in the chapter. At all future elections, candidate recognition should occur at the conclusion of the meeting rather than at a delayed time, unless a district-wide recognition is planned. The candidate letter, which will be made available promptly following the April Lodge Executive Committee meeting, should promptly be distributed via email to all candidates and their parents, either by chapter or unit leadership. Similarly, this responsibility may be delegated to unit leadership as determined to be best by chapter leadership.
Candidacy Extension
Pursuant to national policy, all candidates elected between February 1, 2019 and July 1, 2020 will have 24 months from the time of their election to complete their ordeal. This does offer an opportunity to induct elected candidates from 2019 who did not end up completing their ordeal, and chapter leadership is encouraged to take advantage of this. All candidates elected between winter of 2019 and spring of 2020 will now have four opportunities to complete their induction before their candidacy window lapses.
Vigil Inductions
To ensure that adequate opportunities are presented, the Vigil nominees selected in March of 2020 will be eligible for induction at either the Winter Vigil 2020 or Spring Vigil 2021. Another class of Vigil nominees will be considered in fall of 2020 and called out at Fall Assembly 2020. These candidates may be inducted at Winter Vigil 2020 or Spring Vigil 2021 as well. Vigil nominees selected in Fall of 2019 who were not inducted at Winter Vigil 2019 will have the opportunity to be inducted at Winter Vigil 2020 before their nomination lapses.
Chapter Operations
It will be the discretion of each chapter to determine whether they hold chapter officer elections in Spring 2020 or Fall 2020, contingent on any number of factors. It is important that changes in chapter leadership is communicated in a timely manner to the lodge officers. The provision of chapter program is expected to continue through the coming months.
Lodge and Chapter Meetings
Until otherwise decided by the Lodge Key 3, meetings of the Lodge Executive Committee meeting will be held virtually. Login information will be publicly available on the coronavirus response page on the lodge website at least two days prior to the meeting. It is critical that chapters continue to operate and provide some degree of program to local units during this time. The Order of the Arrow is one of the best resources to enhance unit programs, so regularly scheduled chapter meetings and chapter leadership meetings should continue. These meetings can occur through any effective virtual or remote meeting platform.
Awards and Reporting
No change will be made to the current classification system which differentiates between lodge events and lodge-wide events. The three annual lodge-wide events are Spring Assembly, Fall Assembly, and Lodge Banquet, and the annual Performance Measurement Program will reflect as such. Only Fall Assembly and Lodge Banquet will count towards the Lodge Event Participation objective in 2020. Eligibility for the Arrowman of the Year award will require attendance at all 2020 Ordeals, as well as Lodge Banquet. All other requirements remain unchanged. For Arrowmen currently working towards attaining the Tonkawa Lodge Red Arrow Award, their period of eligibility will be extended by one year.
Further Planning
All operations of Tonkawa Lodge are governed by the policies of both the Capitol Area Council and National Committee of the Order of the Arrow. As such, Tonkawa Lodge policy will reflect decisions made on these levels. The coronavirus response page on the lodge website will be updated to communicate pertinent information as released by these organizations.