Lodge 200 and Florida Activities Patches
Posted in Echockotee 200,Florida Lodges,Patch Collecting by John E. Pannell on October 3rd, 2007 at 7:48 pm 
Normally this is something Robert Mathis would be more likely to take up on but I will this time. It gives me the opportunity to go a little further afield. Echockotee 200 has issued a patch for its 2007 Fall Fellowship. Unless I am missing some issues, I believe this would be listed as eX2007-4.
This is not yet on the Echokotee page but I will add it soon.
This is the most recent entry in 2007′s ceremonial principals series. The designs and wording should be very familiar to all Order of the Arrow brothers. They’re all cool, my only reservation is that I would have questioned the propriety of the text included on the patches. I would have pushed either to have that text entirely excluded or have much shorter quotes used.
It’s kind of neat to see how far the use of laser cut-edge technology can be used on patch, but I wonder how these will hold up over time. I would imagine that the bow and arrow are very fragile, prone to bending and breaking.
The lodges in Florida have a long history of color and innovative activity patches. Several lodges have taken up the custom of having annual themes for their issues. Some of these themes may seem a bit odd. While some might scratch their heads over a series of patches for Florida’s pests, remember there was once a lodge whose totem was the mosquito!
It’s obvious a lot of thought and skill went into the creation of these. If you want to see what can be done on a patch you might want to check these out. In addition to Echockotee 200, also take a look at what the brothers of O-Shot-Caw 265, Tipisa 326, Timuquan 340, and Osceola 564 have done.
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Well, John beat me to the punch in posting the latest activity patch from Echockotee 200.
In the interest of full disclosure, I assist my lodge, Echockotee, in design work and patch ordering, so my hands were in this set, up to the elbows. This is the fourth weekend patch from this set, along with a year theme patch, which features each of the four principals and a quote, in a fashion similar to the weekend pieces.
For the last several years, the chief of the lodge has been responsible for the theme of the year’s activity patches. He can do all the work himself, take suggestions from his officers and advisors, or hand the decision to the Lodge Box committee, while retaining the final approval.
The use of the quotes on each of the weekend patches had been discussed, as a part of the design process. Propriety of the use of the quotes had not been considered, and in hindsight, should still not be a problem. If one does not know from where these quotes come, or how each quote corresponds with the character shown on each patch, then their significance is lost. What had been discussed with the quotes was if the lettering could be made small enough to fit them in, and still be legible.
Both the vendor and I were surprised that the bow and bowstring came out as well as they did, but the Winter and Summer Fellowship patches also had similar thin embroidery, that seems to be holding up well. As a temporary patch, I do not believe that there will be suffifient wearing of the patch that will take a toll on the bow and string. There is a problem with wearing it that had not been considered; the center of gravity is not directly below the button loop, so the patch will sit somewhat cockeyed on the button.
It certainly helps to have a great vendor with a sense for customer service, quality products, and skills with both artwork and business relations with Far East manufacturers. If anyone needs the use of a great vendor, contact me at apieka@aol.com, and I’ll pass on his information to you.