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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.
Read the Full Post on blog.oaimages.com
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 December, 2008
1955 Dixie Fellowship
The fourth Dixie Fellowship, the 1955 Area 6-B Fellowship, was held in 1955 at Camp Coker. Santee 116 was the host lodge. Following the tradition started in 1953, the Confederate Battle Flag figured prominently in this patch’s design.
The patch design seems to imply that this section consisted of all of South Carolina, which was not true. It included three lodges in western North Carolina and only three of South Carolina’s five lodges.
Thanks to Jason Spangler (www.santeeswapper.com) for supplying the images for the Area Z and Dixie Fellowship patches used on this blog.
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"Don't be a fool and die for your country. Let the other sonofabitch die for his."
George S. Patton
1954 Dixie Fellowship
The third Dixie Fellowship, the 1954 Area 6-B Fellowship, was held in 1954 at Camp Dick Henning. Itibapishe Iti Hollo 188, affiliated with the Central North Carolina Council, was the host lodge.
Following the tradition started in 1953, the Confederate Battle Flag figured prominently in this patch’s design.
Thanks to Jason Spangler (www.santeeswapper.com) for supplying the images for the Area Z and Dixie Fellowship patches used on this blog.
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"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain."
John Adams
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"Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they please."
Pythagoras
Nentego 20 S14
Maryland would be an interesting, but difficult, state to use as a shape for an OA patch. To my knowledge no one has tried yet. None of the lodges with council headquarters in Maryland have even tried to use their state shape on a patch.
Only one lodge serves the state of Delaware and it’s not known for innovative or unusual patches. So the list of patches using these states’ shapes will be rather short.
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"There are three things which are real: God, human folly, and laughter. The first two are beyond our comprehension. So we must do what we can with the third."
John F. Kennedy
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"When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will win."
Ed Macauley
Are there too many posts to handle? Maybe you missed out on a great post. Here’s a quick digest of the top posts from last week that you may want to check out:
- 2008 Old Hickory Trade-O-Ree Report
Last Saturday, December 20th, I attended the 2008 Old Hickory Trade-O-Ree, sponsored by Wahissa lodge. As my collecting interests are now confined to a very specialized area, I didn’t do much trading or buying, but it was a good opportunity to get out and see some friends and acquaintance that I don’t get see that often.
- Merry Christmas… In Patches
Many lodges traditionally hold year-end functions around Christmastime. Some of these have included a specific reference to Christmas in the event name. A small group of lodges have used a Christmas theme on their patches for events not otherwise connected to this holiday, like the S5 from Tsoiotsi Tsogalii pictured here.
- The Soldier’s Night Before Christmas
Posted on Wednesday, December 24th, 2008 in Personal Stuff – Views: (75)
According to Snopes this poem was written in 1986 by James M. Schmidt, then a Lance Corporal stationed in Washington, D.C. It has since been adapted and circulated by others through the years, often with an erroneous attribution of authorship.I offer the original version for your reading and reflection this Christmas Eve.
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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
As I write this no announcement of the 2009 Region Chiefs has been made on the National OA Website. But election news has already been posted on the four regional sites.
Michael Beckman of Ku-Ni-Eh lodge has just been elected as the 2009 Central Region Chief. He was the section chief of C-4B.
Ryan Hay of Witauchsoman lodge is the 2009 Northeast Region Chief. He was most recently the section chief from NE-5B. He is also a past section vice chief of NE-4A.
Mark Norris of Woa Cholena lodge is the 2009 Southern Region Chief. He is the past Section SR-1B Chief. He has also served as past Section SR-4N Chief, Lodge Chief, Two Term Lodge Chief, Conclave Service Lodge Chairman, and S-4N Vice-Chief.
David Harrell was elected 2009 Order of the Arrow Western Region Chief. He was the section chief of W-5. His home lodge was not reported on the Western Region website.
Ah, Change! I have to love those reorganizations! 
At least two of the four newly elected region chiefs were each section officers in two different sections.
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"Our firmest convictions are apt to be the most suspect, they mark our limitations and our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to extend its boundaries."
Jose Ortega y Gasset
The Order of the Arrow is once again covering the National Planning on its website. They have briefly reported the 2009 National Chief and Vice Chief.
Jack O’Neill was elected as the 2009 National Chief. Jack is a member of Shawnee Lodge of Greater St. Louis Area Council. He was the section chief of C-5C.
Dan Higham was elected as the 2009 National Vice Chief. Dan is a member of Otahnagon Lodge of Baden-Powell Council. He was the section chief of NE-3A.
The region chiefs will be elected later today. Keep a watch on the national OA website for additional information
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"Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. It may not be difficult to store up in the mind a vast quantity of face within a comparatively short time, but the ability to form judgments requires the severe discipline of hard work and the tempering heat of experience and maturity."
Calvin Coolidge
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"If you don't like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time."
Marian Wright Edelman
Wahissa 118 S28?+X18?
Wahissa lodge recently issued a set for the upcoming National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC). This features a simple, but unified design prominently featuring the American flag as a background. Wahissa is the second North Carolina lodge to have released NOAC patches.
This set has already appeared on eBay. It is also available for purchase from the lodge. I picked mine up at the recent Old Hickory Trade-O-Ree. If the lodge follows the custom established in 2004 and 2006, I would expect at least one additional set to be released at a later date.
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"Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time... The wait is simply too long."
Leonard Bernstein
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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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