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January 10th, 2010
Nisha Kittan 114: First Flap Issued
Previously I had reported of the formation of Nisha Kittan lodge, in Lewis and Clark Council, from the merger of Kishkakon 32 and Taleka 81. Thanks to Rich Dillow, I now have an image of the lodge's newly issued first flap. The lodge has decided to use 114 as a lodge number. As far as I know there are no other issues from this lodge at this time.
The design of the flap a simple portrayal of the lodge's black wolf totem, depicted baying at a full moon. It's nicely done. However some observant collectors, especially those in the Southern Plains may find this patch rather familiar looking. I have to wonder if the designer of this flap was inspired by another patch.
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October 27th, 2009
Never Assume
There is an old adage about what happens if one assumes. Randy Holden recently gave me an example of why one shouldn't assume.
A few years ago this privately made patch bearing the name and number of "Unilachtego 107". Given the history of lodge 107 and what was already published in Blue Book, and a proclivity for the recycling of some old lodge names, I assumed this was a predecessor lodge to Kon-Kon-Tu 107 that never had an authentic issue. That was where I was wrong.
Read the Full Post on blog.oaimages.com
August 30th, 2009
The Unknown Lodges
The Unknown Lodges (Originally printed in Blue Book reprinted with permission of the American Scouting Historical Society)
by Jeff Morley and Bill Topkis
It is hard to imagine the Order of the Arrow of the early 1920s. The scouting program itself was less than 15 years old and the Boy Scouts of America was only one of several scouting organizations competing for national dominance. In those days, the program was not even called Order of the Arrow. What we now know as the OA began in 1915 as Wimactendienk W. W. and was one of several honor camper societies to form during the first decade of Scouting.
Based upon the few first-hand accounts by members who were active in the 1920s, minutes of early meetings of the Grand Lodge and the official History of the Order of the Arrow by Kenneth Davis, an amazing picture of the orders early years begins to emerge.
Scout councils began procuring their own camps in the early to mid 1920s. Before then, it was commonplace for councils to share large camp areas. Three such areas were Treasure Island on the Deleware River near Philadelphia, Lake Kawonanke, and Crystal Lake in New York. Scout encampments from many councils co-existed along the shores of the latter two locations and in the case of Kawonanke Lake, we know that well over thirty different scout councils had campgrounds there at the same time. In circumstances such as these, it is easy to see that if one council utilized a popular honor camper society, it would not be long before the idea would spread to neighboring council camps and such was the case in the early days.
Read the Full Post on blog.oaimages.com
August 25th, 2009
Guest Editorial: On Patch Restrictions
Rick Obermeyer taught a training session on "Ethical Patch Distribution" at NOAC earlier this month. The topic of patch restrictions often arises in conversation both at NOAC and elsewhere. It is raised often enough that he included an answer to this question in his handouts. I share this here with his permission.
Q4: How do you feel about restrictions?
A4: That really isnt in the context of this session, but since we have time, Ill give you my personal opinions, if you like. I cant speak on restrictions for everybody. That would be too presumptuous. I can only talk about what works for my own lodge back home. Shall I go ahead?
How my lodge feels about restrictions is based on some premises. The first premise is that we are all brothers in the Order of the Arrow. That is, equal brothers. We all got into the OA the same way, with election by others. If we have Brotherhood membership, thats because we all individually made a personal promise to accept the challenge to cheerful service that was shown to us during the Ordeal. If we are Vigil, that is a sign given to indicate that others feel that we have done a decent job of keeping that personal promise we made to ourselves at Brotherhood.
Read the Full Post on blog.oaimages.com
August 22nd, 2009
Patch Trading at NOAC
Now this is patch trading!
Jason Spangler, aka The Santee Swapper, took out his video camera during the evening patch trading at NOAC. Rather than showing every single patch that was out there -- an almost impossible task if I say so myself -- he wanted to capture the atmosphere of patch trading in Read Hall. The video clip is after the jump.
Read the Full Post on blog.oaimages.com
August 18th, 2009
2009 NOAC: Who Had the Most Patches?
Now that NOAC is over we can start to get a better grasp on what the lodges issued for this event. I would not be surprised if there's ultimately close to 1500 issues from the approximately 300 lodges. Keep those images coming.
Today's question: Which lodge issued the most patches for NOAC. Skyuka 270 had 14 pieces and they are not a lodge known for its large quantity of issues. Has anyone issued more?
I think there's at least 11 issues from Amangamek Wipit (not yet online) so they could be a contender with a few more patches. Wipala Wiki has been known for a large number of NOAC patches in past years, but I've not seen much from them yet.
On the other extreme: Were there any lodges in attendance that issue no patches for NOAC?
Read the Full Post on blog.oaimages.com
Archive for May, 2008
Tomo Chi-Chi lodge recently issued a new standard flap. This flap replaces their previous set of Ordeal, Brotherhood and Vigil flaps and puts the lodge in compliance with a national policy that forbids such “OBV” flaps. Thanks to Alan McDonald for this image.
The flap uses the new artistic depiction of the lodge’s totem, the Great Blue heron, in use since 2006’s “S35?”.
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"When God wants to speak and deal with us, he does not avail himself of an angel but of parents, or the pastor, or of our neighbor."
Martin Luther
Yamni Wakpa chapter has issued the most patches of any chapter in Occoneechee lodge. In addition to the neckerchief I recently wrote about here, Greg Grimes tells me the chapter is also issuing five new patches for those who have participated on or assisted with any of the chapter’s ceremonial teams.
There are two rounds and three segments. The white border round was a “fundraiser”, freely sold to generate the funds for the other award patches.
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"There are some who've forgotten why we have a military. It's not to promote war; it's to be prepared for peace."
Ronald Reagan
O-Shot-Caw 265 has released their multiple sets for the lodge’s ArrowCorps5 contingent. Two of the sets were available for sale as fundraisers, while a third set was distributed to the contingent only, at 2/ person.
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"When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will win."
Ed Macauley
Yes, 2005. That is not a typo. This patch had not been listed in Blue Book and until now not pictured on this site. Remember, items only get listed on this site if I know about them.
Croatan lodge issued this rather simply designed patch for their 2005 Fall Fellowship. The design features a traditional representation of the lodge’s deer totem on a blue background. As far as I know this is the only 2005 event patch from this lodge.
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"I have found it advisable not to give too much heed to what people say when I am trying to accomplish something of consequence. Invariably they proclaim it can’t be done. I deem that the very best time to make the effort. "
Calvin Coolidge
For those who don’t know me too well, I like to bicycle. I don’t have the physical stamina or level of fitness to race — and really aren’t that interested in it — but I do like to ride when I get a chance. Unfortunately I lost my riding companion when I lost my job last Winter, but that’s another story. Anyway…
I found this neat site for logging rides, www.mapmyrun.com. It appears to have been initially designed for runners, as the name would indicate but works well for cyclists, too. Using Google technology, it lets you map out your trips. You can also save them or share them with others. I just started using it, primarily as a way to alert folks where I’ll be riding as I ride alone. Registration is required to use most features, but that is free.
For the real patch geeks out there, I’m sure you can use this to plot your routes to trade-o-rees or travel plans between concurrent events. 
You can also post your route on a blog. After the break you can see the ride I took Monday afternoon.
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"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."
Abraham Lincoln
A set of chapter issues from Arrowhead Chapter of Nentico Lodge #12; like the Chesapeake issue of my last post, these are not brand-new but have not previously been documented. There are four arrowhead-shaped patches, all with button loops. Three have a white background and indicate “Ordeal”, “Brotherhood”, and “Vigil”; the fourth has a light gray background and says “Staff”.
The “Staff” patch is distinct from the already-listed A2 in two key ways: the background is light gray (instead of white) and the term “Lodge 12″ is ghosted (instead of red).
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"In things to be seen at once, much variety makes confusion, another vice of beauty. In things that are not seen at once, and have no respect one to another, great variety is commendable, provided this variety transgress not the rules of optics and geometry."
Sir Christopoher Wren
A friend recently sent this to me. I’m sure it’s all over the internet and has probably been emailed thousands of times. Still, I think it worth sharing here. There is also a personal connection here, I’ll share later in this message.
“You’ve probably seen the bumper sticker somewhere along the road. It depicts an American flag, accompanied by the words ‘These colors don’t run.’ I’m always glad to see this because it reminds me of an incident from my confinement in North Vietnam… Then a major in the U.S. Air Force, I had been captured and imprisoned from 1967 to 1973. Our treatment had been frequently brutal. After three years, however, the beatings and torture became less frequent. During the last year, we were allowed outside most days for a couple of minutes to bathe. We showered by drawing water from a concrete tank with a homemade bucket. One day, as we all stood by the tank, stripped of our clothes, a young naval pilot named Mike Christian found the remnants of a handkerchief in a gutter that ran under the prison wall. Mike managed to sneak the grimy rag into our cell and began fashioning it into a flag… He made red and blue from ground-up roof tiles and tiny amounts of ink and painted the colors onto the cloth with watery rice glue. Using thread from his own blanket and a homemade bamboo needle, he sewed on stars. Early in the morning a few days later, when the guards were not alert, he whispered loudly from the back of our cell, ‘Hey gang, look here!’ He proudly held up this tattered piece of cloth, waving it, as if in a breeze… When he raised that smudgy fabric, we automatically stood straight and saluted, our chests puffing out, and more than a few eyes had tears… Now, whenever I see the flag, I think of Mike and the morning he first waved that tattered emblem of a nation. It was then, thousands of miles from home in a lonely prison cell that he showed us what it is to be truly free.â€
â€â€Medal of Honor recipient Leo K. Thorsness
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"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."
Ronald Reagan
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has named John Gottschalk as its new National President at their annual meeting in San Diego.
According to the Omaha World-Herald cited above:
Gottschalk was a Boy Scout from 1951 to 1958 while growing up in Rushville, Neb., and has been involved with the organization as an adult for at least 25 years. He will direct the National Executive Board and assist with preparations for the Boy Scouts of America’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2010…
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"The more extensive a man's knowledge of what has been done, the greater will be his power of knowing what to do."
Benjamin Disraeli
For whatever reason I rarely get news of new issues from Wahissa lodge. I guess the folks in Wahissa that use this site and read this blog like having their lodge’s patches incompletely and incorrectly cataloged? (Consider that a friend and not very subtle nudge!)
Woody Woodruff brought over this new issue from Elauwit Chapter of Wahissa lodge for me to scan. Like the Croatan flap I recently wrote about, he also didn’t know when this was issued. We can only guess it came out very recently.
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"When you have eliminated the impossible, what ever remains, however improbable must be the truth."
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
This “new” item from Chesapeake Chapter of Nentico Lodge #12 is eight years old now, but has been hard to catch up with. I have finally been able to scan one this week; I saw it briefly at last summer’s lodge picnic, but was unable at that time to get either an image or enough notes to have a good description. Nentico started using district-based chapters in 1980; several chapter issues have commemorated anniversaries, including the piece pictured here issued by Chesapeake Chapter in 2000.
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"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. "
The Dalai Lama
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Recent OAImages News
December 5th, 2009
A Fun Few Days
I'm sure most of you noticed the problems this site has been having over the past few days. It went offline several times. It was a frustrating experience. To add to my woes, I somehow managed to pick up some "bad stuff" on my computer at home. The last time I had this much trouble with my site, server, and home PC I was also let go from my job. Luckily that did NOT happen!
"Techie Talk" follows...
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October 4th, 2009
Blocked Emails
I have been made aware this evening of a couple of issues with email.
Hotmail is currently blocking email from some RoadRunner servers at this time. RoadRunner is my ISP and my outgoing mail, except for messages automatically generated by my server come from there. RoadRunner currently has published this notice:
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September 30th, 2009
More NOAC Images
To those who are wondering where the rest of the NOAC patches are... A large group will be uploaded to the site later today or this evening. I'm working on large groups from the 200s and 300s ranges of lodge numbers right now. Stay tuned.
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September 21st, 2009
Temporary Email Outage: Resolved
Last Friday RoadRunner started blocking email from my server because of spam without my knowledge. I had been filtering all my incoming mail at OAImages through my RoadRunner so as to filter out most of the several hundred spam messages that I get every day. RoadRunner apparently did not like that. I had no idea the server was being blocked until I saw over 800 notices that email was rejected on my server's queue last night.
This is now resolved and I am now receiving mail again, but it is coming directly (unfiltered) to me from my server, spam and all. I am currently working to block the spam.
If anyone sent me email between Friday morning (9/18) and this morning (9/21), please don't assume I received it. I probably did not see it. Please send again.
Thank you.
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August 7th, 2009
OA Blue Book Going "Web 2.0"
One of the big items of discussion at the recent pre-NOAC TOR was the fate of Blue Book. For those who don't know, the various legal issues in which this became entangled are now resolved. The new editor in chief of the Blue Book is Roy More. His desire is to maintain this resource in electronic and online forms. It has become impractical to publish this in book form as was done for the first six editions.
The goal is to create an "ever green" resource, with active input by collectors. It will be going "Web 2.0" in many respects. OAImages, will remain an integral part in this. This does not mean uncontrolled anarchy though, with lodge listings being changed at will by anyone who chooses. Roy writes:
...OA Blue Book will not become a Wikipedia. This is a standards (sic) project which means there must be structure, discipline and stability. That said, Blue Book will become much more open for all...
There are still many issues that need to be worked out. Roy More has started a blog at oabluebook.com to discuss some of the various issues that need to be resolved. There are only a few posts there now, but he plans to update this frequently. Please check this out and comment on the posts there.
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April 1st, 2009
New Policies on Patches Announced
This post covers an important change in policy that will soon become effective regarding patches issued for all Order of the Arrow lodges chartered by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Please read the whole post carefully.
At a recent meeting at the National Headquarters of the Boy Scouts of America, it was announced that a new policy will be put in place by both the Boy Scouts of America and the NationalOrder of the Arrow Committee regarding lodge patch issues. Further announcements and clarifications will be made at this Summer's National Order of the Arrow Conference and at section conclaves throughout the year. This policy will be effective September 1, 2009.
All lodge flaps, and patches issued as multiple piece sets (most commonly two-piece sets) must be ordered through BSA Supply Division, or an official BSA licensee. The national OA and the BSA has decreed that all items must be produced in a minimum quantity of 1000 (one thousand) pieces. In the case where a lodge wishes to make minor changes in design or colors, 1000 of each must be produced.
Should the lodge feel they do not need that many pieces to suit their needs, the BSA Supply Division will purchase all remainders from the manufacturer and retain them. They will be available to the lodges should more be needed. At the BSA's discretion, they will also be made available for sale in all BSA run Scout shops.
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Lodge 119: New Standard Flap
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