Lately it seems all the idiots of the world are converging on me, or at least getting in my way.     There’s too many stories to recount here but I’d like to share one from Wednesday night at work.     All names are fictional.

A guest was expecting a  package on Tuesday from a well known express delivery service.     It didn’t come.     Wednesday night when I came to work, it still  wasn’t here.     So the guest called that company, while at the desk, and was told it was delivered here.       The front desk manager, on duty that evening, queried them if it was delivered *here* (yes, they said) then had the guest ask  the company  who signed for it “here”.     The name given was not one of our employees.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Tripp Clark of Muscogee lodge made me aware Tuesday of a  new Operations Update from the Order of the Arrow National Committee.   It includes revised text that will be included in the next OA Handbook and is effective immediately.

The full text of this update can be found at:  http://www.main.oa-bsa.org/annc/opup/opup-07-8.pdf

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Santee lodge has completed the redesign of their standard OBV series with the release of the new Vigil flap at their recent Summer Fellowship.     While maintaining many traditional design elements, it is a significant change for one of the more conservative southeastern lodges.   Thanks to Jason Spangler for the image of this patch.

The Ordeal and Brotherhood flaps in this series were issued in 2006.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

…Goin’ to the chapel and we’re gonna get married
Goin’ to the chapel and we’re gonna get married
Gee, I really love you and we’re gonna get married
Goin’ to the chapel of love…

Catawba lodge has recently issued two unusual patches.     Their lodge adviser will soon be married.     The lodge has chosen to mark these nuptials with a special flap and pocket batch.     Thanks to Larry Banks for sending me the images of these patches.

While unusual, this is not the first lodge to issue a flap for a member’s wedding.   Ku-Ni-Eh 145 issued a flap, S32, for their adviser’s wedding in 1999.

The flap is also unusual in another respect.   To my knowledge it is the first Order of the Arrow patch to include in the design the Lenape word that is written across the top of the patch.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

The 2007 National Conservation Leadership Seminar (NCLS) has ended.   This was the OA’s program emphasis this Summer in preparation for 2008′s Arrowcorp⁵. Rather surprisingly not very many lodge issued patches for this event.     This is a big difference from either the most recent NOACs or even the 2003 Indian Seminar.

The following lodges issued patches for this event.   Not all are yet pictured on this site, so please send images of any that are missing if you can.   All are flaps unless noted otherwise.   Unless noted, lodges issued only one patch for this event.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

David Scocca went out on a limb on patch-l with an interesting perspective on the flood of fakes, overruns, and backdoor distribution of patches that currently infects our hobby.   His is an interesting take on this issue that I had not really thought about it before.   It’s not a position I’m prepared to say I completely agree with.   He has allowed me to quote him here.

I think modern artificial rarities are wrong and a bad thing for lodges and councils to do.   To the extent that “fakes” or “overruns” discourage production of highly restricted patches and/or make them available to people who weren’t lucky enough to have access to item when it was first released, I think the manufacturers who let them out the back door are actually doing a service.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

This is the first of several articles that I will post on the activity patch issues of Waun La-Mon’Tay 442.

In a typical year Wauna La-Mon’Tay issues three activity issues.   2005 was not a typical year.   We issued 4 (6 if you count variations).

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Popularity: 6% [?]

Last night baseball hist*ry was made.   It was truly a sh*t in the arm to the sp*rt.   Barry B*nds br*ke Hank Aar*n’s rec*rd and hit his 756th h*me run.   Fans in San Francisc* were juiced up with excitement.

A rare r**kie card f*r him, fr*m bef*re he started w*rking *ut hard and using his w*ndr*us flax seed *il, is sh*wn.

It will be interesting t* see h*w the media rep*rt this st*ry.     I   d* n*t kn*w yet if any*ne caught the ball  *r  what they plan t* d* with it.     I w*nder what it w*uld be w*rth *n eBay.

If y*u have been able t* read this far, then y*u can pr*bably guess what I think ab*ut Barry B*nds and any “chemical help” he may have had in setting this rec*rd.       D*es any*ne think this acc*mplishment deserves an asterisk in the rec*rd b**ks?

Popularity: 3% [?]

Some may have noticed that the number of lodges cited on the main page of this site has recently gone up by about a dozen.     No, there hasn’t been a rush of mergers or consolidations.     There haven’t been new lodges chartered in the few councils that don’t yet charter an Order of the Arrow lodge.

There is a seller on eBay that has been producing and selling a number of “private issues”, “replicas”, or place holder pieces.     Some have been fakes of obscure and rare issues.     Others have been placeholder type pieces for lodges that never issued any insignia.     Regardless of what might think about such material it should be noted that he clearly states that these are private issues.   No one can honestly claim they were bidding on authentic lodge issues.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

It is becoming increasingly commonplace to see items of questionable authenticity offered for sale on eBay.     There are several sellers who regularly sell such items and one would be wise to be skeptical of any of their offerings.     One such seller recently sold what appeared to be the 2002 NOAC flaps from Tsali 134.

As issued by the lodge, the two flaps for the 2002 NOAC (Blue Book S42 and S43) are difficult modern issues from this lodge.     It is reported that only 40 of the S42 were issued, and 60 of the S43.     They have readily sold for between $150 and $200 each in the past.     Many of us were skeptical at the recent offering of these rare pieces by a seller from British Columbia.   We know he has sold what I call “close fakes” of North Carolina OA flaps, notably the Tsoiotsi Tsogalii 70 ZS1, in the past.     Upon examination of his auctions, I feel confident in calling these latest offerings fakes.

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Popularity: 5% [?]