Kecoughtan flap restrictions circa 1962

I just received a bound volume of early issues of The Trader, the first printed newsletter for our patch collecting hobby that began publishing in 1957. This new volume was created by Joe Maloy, who generously took the time to turn his collection of back issues into a printed, spiral bound copy and provide it to interested folks like me for just the cost of printing (with payment in the form of a Lodge flap of equivalent value.)

The Trader was edited by Mike Diamond and E. Forest Reynolds, and each carefully typewritten page and story displays a devotion to our hobby that's fascinating to read. This peek into the past reminds us how early traders thirsted for news and information the same way we do now, but depended upon the monthly delivery of The Trader by their postman to fill in the gaps between events like Area Pow Wows, Conclaves, and national Jamborees.

I've only begun to digest the content in the bound volume that includes 66 issues from 1957 through 1965, but found this report in the June, 1962 edition I thought would be of interest to other Kecoughtan Lodge collectors:

KECOUGHTAN LODGE #463 will hold its Spring Ordeal June 15-17 at Camp Ohee. There are 58 candidates for Ordeal, 87 for Brotherhood, and 3 for Vigil.

The 463 neckerchief is going to change to 100% embroidery and each lodge member will be able to buy one of the new ones. The old ones can now be traded. They were solid embroidery except for a small piece of sky. The border on the flap and neckerchief patches will be changed to the new overcasting stitch.

The flap restriction has been changed to one patch per 7 hours service.

Gene Fowler, 463

Colonial Virginia Council 2005 Jamboree Shoulder Patches

Colonial Virginia Council has just issued a beautiful set of five distinctive shoulder patches for the 2005 National Scout Jamboree to be held July 25-August 3 in Caroline County, Virginia. The patches are themed with different watercraft, from a sailing clipper to an aircraft carrier to the famous Merrimac which battled with the Monitor off the coast where this council is located. Four of the patches are specific to the CVC troops destined for the Jamboree, while the fifth includes no troop number and reportedly is for Council members serving on the Jamboree staff.

Thanks to Larry Johnson for helping me add these patches to my collection and make pictures of them available on this web site!

Kecoughtan history items posted

This evening I scoured my hard disk for items that I saved to post to the Kecoughtan Lodge Emblems and History site when I had time to devote to this effort. Needless to say there were more than a few, so check back often as I begin to add them.

Tonight I focused on the History page, adding three images from the original Kecoughtan Bylaws which came up for auction on eBay in April of this year. Sam Fairchild won this auction (much to my relief) so they remain in the hands of a former Kecoughtan arrowman.

I also added a photo of Hugh C. Ewing, Jr. and William (Bill) Leighty at Camp Chickahominy. Both of these gentlemen served as Lay Advisors for the Lodge, Ewing from 1983-1987, and Leighty from 1976-1979. This photo was contributed by Tim Ewing who informs me this is the last photo of Bill Leighty taken at Camp Chickahominy before his passing.

Lodge 333 2005 Activity Patches

In late May my friend Larry Johnson from Wahunsenakah Lodge sent me scans of two new activity patches. I've finally added them to the Lodge 333 Activity Emblems page. The patches are solid embroidered, with cut edge, and are shaped like puzzle pieces.

They are part of a set that when placed together will form an arrow. You may remember that in 2000 Wahunsenakah Lodge issued a set of 5 activity patches that formed an arrowhead.

Wahunsenakah Lodge 2005 Winter Ordeal
Wahunsenakah Lodge 2005 Spring Ordeal

Thanks to Larry for helping keep the Lodge 333 Activity Emblems page accurate and complete!

Vote for your favorite Kecoughtan patches

Since it's July 4th weekend I had a little time to put together a poll for site visitors to vote for their favorite Kecoughtan Lodge flap patch and chenille patch.

The free service I used back in 1999 to create the original "favorite 463 flap" poll has long since disappeared from the internet, but it was easy to use SurveyMonkey.com to build a new poll that includes pictures of all of the patches. My first attempt created a web page about 1.5 MB for visitors to download due to the size of the images, and that is excessive for anyone still on dial-up connections.

Thankfully, a trip to VersionTracker led me to a free utility called ThumbsUp that quickly generated thumbnail images of the patch pictures, and I was able to get the size of the page down to a more reasonable 500K or so.

The poll is open until there are 100 respondents, since that's the maximum number allowed for free accounts. I'll post results from time to time so you can see what the consensus is. And if you complete the poll you will find out which Kecoughtan flap and chenille patches are my favorites!

Take the survey now (and tell your friends about it, too!)