On Vacation?
Posted in Patch Collecting by John E. Pannell on June 22nd, 2009 at 10:59 pm 
O-Shot-Caw 265 S92+X31
If you have been following this blog you may have noticed that things here have been quieter than normal lately. I slowed down and took a bit of a break from writing here over the last week or so. In light of my “blog vacation”, and since many of us will be planning beach vacations this Summer, I thought it would be fun to highlight some OA patches with a beach theme.
Several have used some sort of beach theme. Not surprisingly most of them are in the Southeast. First up are the two sets issued by O-Shot-Caw 265 for the 2004 NOAC, S92+X31 and S93+X32. Both sets have an identical design featuring a scene on South Beach. An anthropomorphized heron, the lodge’s totem, is seen cruising on the beach and taking stock of some rather attractive looking scenery.
Aal-Pa-Tah 237 S67+X37
Aal-Pa-Tah chose a more intimate setting for its three 2002 NOAC sets. Each set is part of a story involving a a gator depicted as a lifeguard and a young woman on the beach. At least the gator is doing his bit to prevent skin cancer!
Timuquan 340 J5
Timuquan 340 also used the bikinis and beach motif on their 2002 NOAC patches, J5 and S45+X6. These were all done in the days before all patch designs were supposed to be reviewed by the BSA. I have to wonder how many of these designs would get past the BSA’s patch design police now.
Timuquan used a less controversial theme, sunsets, for their 2001-2002 program year event patches. The patches feature Pasco’s Nature Coast, Clearwater Beach, Johns Pass and St. Petersburg Pier. The scenes on theVigil Breakfast patch and jacket patch are not identified.
Tipisa 326 eX1993-3
The next beach themed patch is the eX1993-3 from Tipisa 326. It has earned a bit of notoriety due to the strong reaction it ellicited from parents of Scouts after it was issued. Even though the patch design was popular with youth members of the lodge, many parents did not feel the subject matter was appropriate for a Boy Scout event patch. It’s a bit ironic that this design is rather tame when compared the later patches shown above, whose designs are much more suggestive.
Shu-Shu-Gah 24 S45+X10
Shu-Shu-Gah 24 from Brooklyn, NY depicted a scene on the boardwalk of Coney Island on one of its 2004 NOAC sets, S45+X10. While the design is thematically similar to the beach scenes depicted on the the patches from the Florida lodges, the brothers in Brooklyn were a bit more sensitive to the subject matter and chose to depict only herons instead of bikini clad women.
Croatan 117 J4
Croatan 117 depicts the Outer Banks of North Carolina on its J4. The design is non-controversial. In addition to the lodge totem, the patch also depicts the lighthouse at Cape Hatteras and pays tribute to the area’s maritime tradition.
The brothers of Santee lodge depicted the Carolina Parakeet clad for a day at the beach on their 2004 Fall Fellowship patch, eX2004-5.
Tsoiotsi Tsogalii 70 S8
I couldn’t make a list of beach themed patches without including the S8 from my own lodge. This patch was issued by the lodge for delegates to the 2000 SR-7B conclave.
This list is not complete. In fact there are some I have deliberately left off, just to see who’s reading this blog. 
If you know of any other beach related OA patches, please discuss them in the comments.
Popularity: 10% [?]
OK, I’ll bite….Croatan S-50-52, Nayawin Rar S-44 and eX-2008-1, and Santee S-26 to name a few.
And don’t forget the Japeechen 341 issue for the 2004 NOAC…..