Last week I was at my Scout office for a meeting and stopped by the trading post. They have the new boy rank patches out commerating the 100th anniversary year of the BSA. I think these are neat but the quality control is poor. There are at least three major varieties in this group alone. Some appear to have been made by the BSA. Others have ‘Made in China’ stickers on the back. The latter is a separate sore point but we’ll leave that for another blog. Anyway, variety collectors are going to have a field day figuring these out. I’m told there’s an Eagle patch as well but I’ve not seen it. I’ve also been told that Scout shops are to have returned their inventory of the regular items so as to be replaced with these 2010 pieces.

Then Destry and I went to the Indy TOR this past weekend. Their hospitality was great as always (except for the 9″ of snow.) Several councils now have out 2010 patches. That got me asking around how many items do you think we’ll have for the 100th anniversary? By “items” I mean regular issue pieces - CSPs, JSPs, OA items. I’m figuring it will be up to 5,000. Could be more. And this is not counting camp and camporee items or Jamboree staff items. One could spend a lifetime just to collect this year. Also, I was hearing quotes for “rare, limited edition” varieties at huge prices. Councils and lodges could kill a good thing. If you know of some egregious abuses, please pass on the comment. Thanks.

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eBay seller freedomfifty2k has been out for a while with more fake Boy Scout patches produced in the Philippines. He’s had some Canal Zone Council 1960s era canoe race activity patches but now he’s running a lodge 391 Chiriqui fake flap and a fake of the Camp El-Vol-Can patch. See below. His story is that these came from a Scouter who was a US Navy Chief that served in Vietnam. Doubtful. He says these patches were “worn by members of the a Boy Scouts of Canal Zone, Order of the Arrow (OA) Chiriqui Lodge 391, CZ Panama.” NOT Oh well. Buyer beware. It looks like folks are on to these not being real based upon bidding but certainly not from anything this seller is saying. eBay benefits financially from these fakes so they won’t do much to stop them which leaves it up to the hobby.

Fake El Vol Can patch

Boy Scout camp El Volcan fake patch

The real El-Vol-Can 1950 patch - white flock printing on blue felt. (This is from my collection. The piece that’s really interesting, IMHO, is the envelope corner from Canal Zone Council from 1950.)

Real Boy Scout Camp El Volcan patch from 1950

Fake Lodge 391 Chiriqui flap

Fake OA Lodge 391 flap

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Chief Scout Executive Bob Mazzuca is out with the following announcement regarding the Jamboree site for 2013 and forward. This is after the aborted effort to acquire and develop Goshen Reservation. The problem with this is as I see it is location. The Goshen site, or something on the eastern seaboard, gave the potential for troop tie-ins with Washington, D.C.. This location won’t. Its probably real pretty but its also likely to be VERY hilly. I could be wrong. We’ll be hopeful. I’m sure there will be good high-adventure tie-ins. Its certainly closer to Michigan but I still see it as being out of the way.

Here’s what the Chief had to say:

BSA Must Read: National Executive Board News

I am writing to share some exciting news. Today, our National Executive Board took another significant step toward establishing a permanent home for future national jamborees and creating another premier outdoor adventure Scouting site. The board approved the purchase of more than 10,000 acres of some of the most spectacular land you’ve ever seen. It’s located in the New River Gorge area of West Virginia-an area that offers some of the best rock climbing, whitewater rafting, and mountain biking anywhere in the country. It is a perfect site for the full complement of activities we intend to offer at our new facility: extreme sports, leadership training, camping, high adventure-anything you can imagine doing in the great outdoors, and, of course, the national jamboree.

We still have a lot of work to do, but under Jack Furst’s tremendous leadership, we are well on our way toward going from vision to reality. As Jack said to board members, “We are only limited by our own creativity and ingenuity.” And as we know, with Jack at the helm, that means there are no limits to what we can accomplish through this effort.

Stay tuned for further details and a formal unveiling of our plans in November. Until then, my sincerest thanks to the team for its tireless efforts in bringing this exceptional opportunity to our Scouting family. It is, truly, one of the best investments we will make in serving Scouts for the next 100 years.

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Bob Sherman, ISCA and camp patch book author, just sent us a picture of a 1936 Camp Mills patch and asked what we knew about it. We went into our archives and pulled together the following. Frankly, we had more than I remembered.

Here’s what I know.

Camp Mills was a camp of the Detroit Council, later Detroit Area Council. I don’t know if it was at a separate location or was held at Camp Brady.

By the late 1930s or early 1940s, the camp was at Charles Howell Scout Reservation. Area collectors, some of whom attended or staffed Howell Reservation remember Mills as being  the provisional camp. That is, each camp site ‘troop’ contained Scouts from several troops. The camp provided the Scoutmaster.

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We’ve been helping a Scouter re-create his original merit badge sash. He recently shared some information about his Scouting history including a wonderful camp staff photo from Camp Sunnen of Cahokia Mound Council headquartered in Madison County, IL. Camp staff photos are fun but what really caught my eye was all of the staff being OA members. I’ve had numerous conversations with Paul Myers, Terry Grove and others that finding early, particularly non-NOAC/conclave, photos of OA members is not easy. Now, 1957 is not ‘early’ but its now 52 years ago as well.Here’s what Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor member James Turner Harris provided to us (click on the picture for a larger image):

Boy Scouts of America, Cahokia Mound Council, Madison Co., Ill. - Camp Sunnen, Shirley, Mo. (on Mo. Rte. # between Postosi, Mo. and Steeleville, Mo. located on Sunnen Lake owned by Sunnen Products, St. Louis, Mo.Post By: Larry Ryan 1957 Staff Photo Back To TopIn the picture: Clay Breihan   Ed Rickert   Jim Vierling   Walt Schramm   Ony Pashea   Tim Bennett   Larry Ryan   Les Bickel   Bill Savage   Jim Harris   Frank Long   Dick Cassens   Webb Lewis   Lowell Schaefer   Tom Renz   Rich ColemanTop Row, left to right:Clay Breihan, Ed Rickert, Jim Vierling, Walt Schramm, Ony Pashea, Tom “Frenchie” Dubocheau, Don Davidson, Tim Bennett, Larry Ryan, Les Bickel Front Row, left to right: Bill Savage, Jim Harris, Frank Long, Dick Cassens, Webb Lewis, Lowell Schaefer, Tom Renz, Rich Coleman

Jim, a delegate to the 1956 National Order of the Arrow Conference, shared some pictures on the Cahokia 126 lodge delegation:

This is a photo of the group from the Cahokia Mound Council #126 that went to Bloomington, Ind. in 1956.

Left to right:

Jim Chism - Granite City, Ill.

Jim Harris - Granite City, Ill.

Mickey Strange - Madison, Ill.

Carl Temple - Granite City, Ill.

Ed Rickert - Granite City, Ill.

Dick Dawkins - Collinsville, Ill.

Rollin Henn - Granite City, Ill. (to my knowledge 1st Vigil in our conf.)

Tom Temple - Granite City, Ill.

Missing:

Ronney Loos - Marine, Ill.

Walt Schramm - Edwardsville, Ill. (OA Lodge Chief)

Notice that we are all wearing the flap OA patches. As I remember, we got them not too long before we went to Bloomington. We were probably the first scouts in #126 to wear the flap patches. Also notice, that on my uniform you see the Camp Sunnen patch. The scan of my OA flap patch is the same uniform as in this photo and still has the original flap patch and also the Camp Sunnen patch on it but with a few more years added to the count.

I did not notice originally when I sent the photo but the neckerchief I am wearing .. white .. is the one that I had E. Urner Goodman sign with an ink pen while I was at the conclave. On that neckerchief was my original Cahokia #126 round, white OA patch with the chief head on it. I wish I had the neckerchief of course but I wish I had at least a photo of it. Anyway it sort of dates the switch over from the round to the flap .. circa just before the 41st OA conclave as I remember.

I remember that Dr. E. Urner Goodman was there and I was lucky enough to see him. I remember that I had a white neckerchief with the “old” round, white Cahokia OA patch on it and I got him to sign it in ink .. no sharpies (lol) back in 1956. It ran a bit and I put it away for safe keeping but it must have disappeared when I was still living at home back in the early 60s. I just remember that he seemed old and was sort of small and thin .. I think.

I know we stayed on campus at Ind. U. The only other thing that I can remember is walking to the “downtown area” by the campus and of course we had out uniforms on .. and some locals wanted to start a fight until they realized they were vastly outnumbered. I was sort of in the background and after that I headed back to the campus area .. .Ha Ha. Not a great warrior.

Unfortunately that is about it. I do have a plastic note book or pad or some thing from there that I kept and a patch and maybe some thing else but I would have to look.

I have told Roger Schestereit, Floyd Jordan in Granite City .. that we were give 5 of the “flap patches” to trade at Bloomington. I know that the flap patch that I have is from Bloomington and 1956 because I made sure my mother sewed on “the new flap patch” and took off the “old round white patch.” I wanted to be “cool and hip” I guess.

The reason I bring that up is that I have never seen the “golden” flap patch that is supposed to be the first and so rare. I do not ever remember seeing anything but the “yellow” one that I have and seemed to be the more common one. I do know that I got flap patches as soon as they were available so I am not sure how or when or why the golden one came into being.

Addendum:

James sent us pictures of the flaps he received just prior to the the NOAC in 1956. Here are the images and his comments. Click on the images to get a larger size.

Roy,

This is the very first Cahokia #126 OA flap patch that I ever got. I wore this to the 41st Natl. OA Conclave in Bloomington, Ind. some time after 8/27/1956.

That date is the date of the photo showing me wearing the patch. At the time of the photo, I had attended Camp Sunnen as a camper in 1955 and I had just finished my first year as Asst. Sports Director for the camp in summer 1956.

jim

Roy,

I got this patch at the same time as the one that was in the photo that I just sent you on my summer uniform. With the summer uniform, it went to camp with me in 1957, 1958 and 1959 after that photo was taken and it got WASHED and not dry cleaned. I have no idea if mom ever dry cleaned this winter uniform but if she did clean it .. it would have been DRY CLEANED and not washed. I think you can tell by the condition of the patch. It is mint except it was sewed on to the uniform.

Like I said before, I was issued these two plus 5 to trade at Bloomington (after 8/27/1956) so I still have my TWO ORIGINAL FLAP PATCHES. I also have the original round white one but it is in my collection.

I hope I have helped out a bit in dating the patches. All I can say is that I know that the ones that I have sent in the photos were issued after summer camp in 1956 and before we went to the OA conclave and as I remember they are the original color patches and all of us who went to Bloomington got them and we should have been the first to receive them.

Hard to remember back 53 years ago though.

jim

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Ah the internet is wonderful for our hobby. An earlier post shared some information about Anthony Wayne Area Council’s Camp Big Island. A former staff member saw it and commented. I asked for some follow-up. Here’s what staff member David Moses provided.

He sent a great picture of several of the early felts from Camp Big Island: Click on it to see a bigger image.

Plus he provided some history and wonderful pictures of the camp that are in the article below. He includes some information about Kiskakon lodge 75 as well.

Camp Big Island

Anthony Wayne Area Council

Fort Wayne, Indiana

 

My brother had attended Camp Big Island as a camper and as a staff member, so by the time I was eligible to attend, I knew a bit about the place.  Camp Big Island, the Anthony Wayne Council’s summer camp, was located on Sylvan Lake about six miles northwest of Kendallville, IN and about one-and-a-half miles southeast of Rome City, IN.  There was a parking lot in the woods on the mainland that sloped down to a landing dock.  This parking lot was a wooded but grassless area that quickly became slick with mud with only a small amount of rain.  Campers, parents, supplies, staff and everything else needed to run the camp had to be transported from the mainland via an old life boat that would hold fifteen or twenty people and some of their gear.  The boat was equipped with a gasoline engine fixed onto the tiller.  There was also a pontoon raft with an outboard engine that was used to carry camping gear, supplies and larger pieces of equipment.  Upon landing at the dock on the island and finding your gear, it was necessary to carry it to one of about fifteen cabins that would be home for the week.  Each cabin was set on a wooden platform and was screened in on all four sides with a solid roof overhead.  There were canvas sides that could be rolled down in case of inclement weather.  Each cabin contained space for eight to ten campers in double deck bunks.  Gear went under the bottom bunks.  Troop leaders, wishing to retain at least some sanity during the week, slept in different cabins away from their charges.  In any given week there would be from one hundred to one hundred twenty campers plus their leaders and a resident camp staff of about twenty.

 

We ate in the dining hall that accommodated all of the campers and staff at one time.  Service was family style and each table designated one person to pick up the food from the kitchen.  Others would be responsible for clearing the tables after the meal and following the noon and evening meals, the staff would lead singing.

 

A favorite spot after lunch and dinner was the concession stand.  This building, similar to most of the others except for the cabins, was painted a nondescript yellow and contained in addition to the concession stand the camp offices.  This is also where a camper would obtain craft supplies.  I can only imagine how many yards of boondoggle, a simple, extruded plastic lace for those who don’t remember, were sold for making lanyards and bracelets.  The stand also carried a limited supply of candy bars.

Activities during the week included crafts, swimming, canoeing and boating, games and classes to help earn higher rank and merit badges.  There were also cabins to keep clean, ceremonies to attend, meals to serve, fire watch at night to walk and other things to keep one busy.  If you worked hard and learned, at the end of the week you were rewarded with a special patch.  I went to Camp Big Island as a camper five years and the fourth year, much to my dismay, I did not satisfy the requirements in the eyes of one of the counselors and I did not get a badge that year.  It was a crushing blow.

 

One of the popular games that took place after dark one evening of the week was “Capture the Flag.” The entire camp was divided into two teams and the camp was divided into two sections.  Each team had to display their flag within reach from the ground and then defend it from the other team.  It was a very rough commando style game.  You had to go into the other team’s area to capture their flag, but at the risk of being captured yourself.  Rough, but everybody was friendly at breakfast the next morning.  This was during and soon after WWII and we were practicing being Rangers.

Camp Big Island was in fact connected to the mainland via a marshy area that seldom had enough water in it to take a boat through but not really dry enough to walk over.  The center of the island was a swamp complete with rattle snakes.  There was a nature trail that ran around the perimeter of the island where one could see and hear many kinds of birds and view poison ivy and poison sumac naturally growing.

 

One evening late in each week at camp there was a ceremony to call out new members of the Order of the Arrow.  It was a dramatic event with several staff members dressed in Native American costumes, a large ceremonial fire and lots of anticipation on the part of those attending.  (The headdresses are ones that I made.)

I went to camp two more years, but as a counselor and stayed all summer long.  In the summer of 1949, I was a counselor in camp crafts.   I taught things like fire building, camp cooking, knot tying, and how to make simple things by lashing limbs together.  In the summer of 1950,r I worked on the water front teaching swimming and rowing.

 

Many years before the island was a Boy Scout Camp my grandmother picked berries on the island, arriving there by boat from the far end of Sylvan Lake where my grandparents had a cottage.  At that time, she said the island was called Rattle Snake Island and she took a rifle with her while picking berries for protection in case one of the rattlers showed up.

 

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Last weekend Destry and I attended the Indy TOR, another great regional one, and got to visiting with Dave Ramp, Paul Myers and Dennis Sydloski about the camps of Anthony Wayne Area Council (AWAC). AWAC is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Its one of those mid-west councils that is strong but was even stronger years ago and has a very rich camp history. What brought this up was I recently acquired a Camp Limberlost patch.

I was not sure when it was used but Dave filled in the information:

Hi Roy,   The Camp Limberlost patch has the blue backing teepee which is a staff patch, plus the orange teepee which represents a third year at Camp. I have the C/L patch with just the blue backing. which could represent a first year staffer or a 2nd year as a staffer (just not sure as I need written doc. on these practices). Have several others on sashes, but need to look at them again (on display at the Council Office), and they came from a youth staff member. Also have a C/I on sash from this fellows brother. Both were younger brothers of Harvey Price later to become Chief Scout Exect.  They would date from after 1929 (1st year of camp which issued a patch on it’s maiden year plus 1 to 3 years and ran thru 1934 when the Limberlost property went back to the estate of Jean Stratton Porter  because the Council couldn’t make the morgage payment and moved the camp unto Big Island across the frozen Sylvan Lake. It then became Camp Island in 1935-36. In 1937 the name was change to Camp Big Island. The red and green silkscreened 1937 & 1938 were used, and I’m very sure blue ones exist for staff. In 1939 the embrodied on felt patches were started. They exist in red, maroon, green , and blue for staff, and continued dated until 1946 when they went to 1st year, 2nd year etc, thru 6th year in red, green and blue. The last in this series started around 1949 or 1950 (not sure) with just Big Island/Camp in red & maroon or on the blue staff just- Big Island. These ended around 1951 or 1952 when the twills went into use.     Rather confusing and complex for a rather small camp. I figure that there could be nearly 60 different felt patches, plus there are several minor varities of the Indian Head on several differnt years. Other items exist such as green segments (7 known) for various achievements. If one earned 3 of these in a year he got a year dated segment and these date from 1951-1955 and are very hard to find.  Your Sixth Year Camper patch is very hard to find. I don’t have it, but Paul Meyers does. All in all Big Island is a very interesting Camp to collect. Hope this helps you understand the sequence of these patches. I think my collection may be the largest, but then I might be wrong, but Paul M. has less than I do, but have not seen his sashes from AWAC.      YiS,  Dave      

Part of what makes this camp and council so interesting is that it is home to one of the toughest old names for Order of the Arrow lodges - Miami Lodge 75 that chartered in 1935 and changed to Kiskakon Lodge 75 in 1938. We’re in the process of brokering one of the few surviving patches from this lodge. See below:

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Coming from “patch–world” of Lingen, Germany on eBay we now have fakes of camp patches. This one is for the Transatlantic Council Camp Mohawk, their summer camp based in England, for 1957. Design is close but not close enough. Of course the description makes no mention that this was recently made, not 50 years ago.

We’re having trouble keeping up with all of the fakes coming out. We’re posting more of this guy’s fakes. No where in the titles of any of these does he indicate they are fakes or re-makes or private issues.

These include the 2000 Philmont staff arrowhead, 1953 National Jamboree jacket patch, region8 patch, 428 R1, 383 Tahosa dance team patch, 146 Tichora event first flap. The list is long and dubious.

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Got this in from Roger Schustereit of Texas. I find it noteworthy for a couple of reasons. First camp patches prior to 1940 are MUCH scarcer than most folks realize. They are some of the first, if not THE first temporary patches Scouts issued. Second, identifying these early camp patches is a serious challenge. All this has is a “C” and a “B”. Fortunately the Museum holding this patch has some of the provenance that helps fill in the story.

Roger passed along this information:

 Bob Black sent me this pictire of the very rare Camp Billy Gibbons felt patch.  I was used in the early to mid
1930’s.  It is in the South Plains Council museum on the merit badge sash of the father of Lodge 150.  He was a Scout in Comanche Trail Council.

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