Kecoughtan Lodge 40th Anniversary Emblems

1991 was a special year for Kecoughtan Lodge. The January 1991 Kecoughtan Kryer displayed a special new masthead and the front page story highlighted the 40th Anniversary of Kecoughtan Lodge. (Arapaho II lists the charter date of Kecoughtan Lodge 463 from official OA records as July 5, 1951).

Along with plans for a 40th Anniversary Fellowship to be held June 15-17, 1991 at Camp Chickahominy, the Kryer announced the availability of a special 40th Anniversary chenille patch, available for two months only by preorder at a cost of $14.00. Reportedly 100 of these were ordered.

The Lodge's 40th Anniversary Committee  published a special anniversary booklet edited by Alex Wiatt entitled A Story of Forty Years of Brotherhood - Kecoughtan Lodge #463, Order of the Arrow. This document remains the most extensively researched and detailed history of the Lodge, spanning over 50 pages and including a checklist of all known Lodge emblems provided by Dr. Ron Godby and Jeff Godby. This booklet was available at the Trading Post during the Fellowship event.

A total of 10 emblems were issued by the Kecoughtan Lodge during 1991 with a special 40th anniversary logo:

• 2 solid embroidered flap patches (1 restricted, 1 unrestricted)
  
• 3 oval pocket patches with loops for the 40th anniversary Fellowship
• 1 limited edition chenille emblem produced by Standard Pennant Company (prototype exists)
  
• 3 other event patches (Winter Ordeal,  Summer Ordeal, and Christmas Banquet)
• 1 Leather Vigil rededication arrowhead

The Lodge issued two special flaps, S25, a restricted issue with a design similar to the standard lodge flap in use at the time with 3 ships, and S26, unrestricted and patterned after the former Lodge flap design, with American flags instead of Confederate ones flanking a large center acorn. The emblem checklist in the Anniversary booklet indicates 500 of each design were ordered.

 The 40th Anniversary Fellowship featured participant, staff, and beaver day issues, differentiated by their border colors of red, dark yellow, and light blue respectively. These were later classified in the Blue Book as X15, X16, and X17. The emblem checklist lists quantities of these produced as 400 red border, 50 dark yellow border, and 100 light blue border versions.

The other event patches for 1991 included the 40th Anniversary acorn logo in their design, as well.

The July 1991 edition of the Kryer reported the huge success of the 40th Anniversary Fellowship, with 230 Arrowmen in attendance, with 15 visitors from other Lodges,  two of them former SE-8 Chiefs.

The Trading Post News column advised that 40th Anniversary chenille emblems were sold out and more than half of the 40th anniversary flaps which arrived at the fellowship on Saturday were gone by Sunday morning.

Fortunately the emblems issued by Lodge 463 in 1991 to celebrate its 40th Anniversary remain surprisingly affordable even today, and together make a unique collection to remember this significant milestone in the history of the brotherhood always remembered as Kecoughtan Lodge 463.