2010 SR-7A Conclave patch

The 2010 Section SR-7A conclave was hosted by Tutelo Lodge 161 at Camp Powhatan on April 23-25. The pocket patch issued for the conclave features a complex design of an Indian standing in front of a fire with a lodge in the background, and woods, mountains, and a sunset all reflected in a lake. Ghosted into the design are the numbers of the lodges that comprise Section SR-7A. At the bottom of the patch the theme of the Conclave From the fire's heart is embroidered, along with a fleur d'lis. Surrounding the design are OA sash designs.

Above is a picture of the pocket patch with annotations indicating the position of the various ghosted lodge numbers. I've added the patch to the Section SR7/7A Emblems page, but still need pictures of other emblems that were issued at the conclave, including neckerchief, jacket patch, hatpin, Vigil rededication token, etc.

Wahunsenakah 2010 SR-7A Conclave Flap

The 2010 Section SR-7A conclave was hosted by Tutelo Lodge at Camp Powhatan on April 23-25. Theme for the Conclave this year was Heart of the Fire. Wahunsenakah issued a single yellow-bordered flap with totems of each lodge in the section as the main feature of the design, along with the SR-7A logo. 600 of the flaps were issued.

Also issuing special flaps for the conclave were Blue Heron Lodge 349 (with matching pocket patch), Nawakwa Lodge 3 (trader and delegate versions), Shenshawpotoo Lodge 276 (trader and delegate versions), and host Lodge Tutelo 161 (with matching pocket patch). The Blue Heron issue does not appear to include lodge name nor number.

Also spotted was a flap patch recognizing National Vice-Chief Will Swingle of Nawakwa Lodge, who was elected at the National OA Planning Meeting on December 27th, 2009. The patch has a red border and white background with the SR-7A logo in the center, "Will Swingle National Vice Chief" in red lettering across the top, "WWW" and "Order of the Arrow" letterer in red on opposite sides and an FDL each of the Section's Lodge numbers ghosted into the white background.

Neckerchief, Jacket Patch pictures for 1994 SR-7 Conclave

Section SR-7 was formed in April of 1993, immediately after the final conclaves of Sections SE-7 and  SE-8, as part of the national realignment of the Order of the Arrow from 6 national regions to 4. The 7 Virginia lodges that comprised SE-8 were split, with Tutelo, Shenshawpotoo, and Shenandoah Lodges moving to the new SR-6, and Kecoughtan, Blue Heron, Nawakwa, and Chanco combining with no fewer than 10 North Carolina Lodges to form SR-7.

The first conclave of the new Section SR-7 was hosted by Keyauwee Lodge 70 on April 15-17, 1994, at Old North State Scout Reservation, (now Cherokee Scout Reservation) near Yanceyville, NC. SR-7 patches are not plentiful, since few were issued and the Section only lasted 4 years before a national realignment on January 1, 1997 reunited the Virginia Lodges into the new Section SR-7A. As a result there are only about a dozen patches from the short-lived Section SR-7.

I was fortunate recently to add a neckerchief and jacket patch from this 1994 SR-7 conclave, and a jacket patch from the 1996 conclave hosted by Blue Heron to my collection, and you can find images of them on the SR-7/SR-7A web page. If you are aware of any other issues from SR-7 that I don't have listed please let me know!

Credit to Robert Higgins' indispensable OA Section List web site for documenting the many and complex realignments of OA lodges throughout its history.

Second Chanco YC1 chenille prototype surfaces

 In October of 2005 I wrote on this web site about my pursuit of information about the elusive Chanco Lodge chenille prototype patch.

My multiyear search for this previously mythical patch finally struck gold when I asked longtime Chanco Lodge member DeWitt Holland about it. Not only did DeWitt know of it, he designed it, ordered it, and had the only known example of it.

DeWitt provided me with color photos of the front and reverse of the chenille, along with a copy of the original order form sent to Standard Pennant Company of Big Run, PA, as well as the order confirmation from SPC dated 10/28/93. Both documents indicate a quantity of one patch.

At the January 1994 meeting the Chanco Lodge Executive Committee discussed the prototype chenille, and as DeWitt relates:

It was voted down as being too expensive to produce and the majority of the members thought it was just a fund raiser. It's cost would have been $30.00 each and the lodge had never produced anything that cost anywhere near that much.

Fast forward to March, 2010. Collector John Ortt of Virginia Beach (who you may recognize as organizer of the annual Williamsburg Trade-O-Ree) acquires a Chanco YC1 prototype from fellow Virginia collector Josh Batten, only to discover it's not the one from DeWitt's collection pictured on this web site.

Comparing the reverse of the two patches reveals differing labels, though both share the same handwritten operator number: 3/19. DeWitt's YC1 has a clean felt back while John's has the word "Sample" written in ink in the center and a strip of masking tape marked "#94."

After conversations with both DeWitt and Josh, John discovered that his Chanco YC1 was a sample originally kept on file by Standard Pennant Company. As John relates:

Standard Pennant apparently ALWAYS makes a sample for their own archival purposes whenever they have a new patch order. My patch is actually the sample from the company.

A similar file sample from SPC led to the discovery last fall of a previously unknown prototype C-3 chenille patch for Kecoughtan Lodge.

That patch was purchased from SPC in a lot of samples by Conley Williams in 1995. No word yet on whether the 483 YC1 chenille prototype sample was part of that group.

You may wonder if John was disappointed with the new addition to his collection after learning it wasn't the only one in existence. "I'm still very happy with the patch; no problem with it being a sample and the SECOND one known," he says.

Personally, I am grateful to know that the second 483YC1 is in the hands of someone who recognizes the special nature and history of this item and that it is staying in Virginia. That's a much more rightful place than a file cabinet in Pennsylvania!

Rarest Kecoughtan patch available for sale

The scarcest patch issued by Kecoughtan Lodge is the acorn shaped felt X1 issued in 1954 for the National Order of the Arrow Conference. If you'd like to add this to your collection it's listed right now on ebay, with a minimum bid of $12,000. The seller is Josh Batten, a Virginia OA collector who is also offering a number of other exceptionally rare OA items for sale.

Only four of the Kecoughtan X1 are known to exist. According to Sam Fairchild, seven were made, three have been lost forever. I have never seen one offered for trade or sale in four decades of collecting and oaimages.com has no record of any prior 463 X1 sale, so it's probably not an exaggeration to say this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire one.

Josh kindly provided a picture of the 463X1. The picture of the patch is grayscale to prevent counterfeiting (as agreed to by the four owners of the known existing examples of this item).