When the remaining needs for my Kecoughtan Lodge collection became scarce and expensive I started collecting Wahunsenakah and Chanco Lodge emblems. When the same thing happened with those collections I added nearby Blue Heron Lodge as my next area of interest. Then I was encouraged by my friends Joe Klos and Mike McCaughan to pursue other Virginia OA lodge issues and took that bait like a hungry catfish, not fully realizing that I was expanding my list of needs from about 1,000 to over 2,300.

But adding new lodges to my collection has really helped me gain a broader appreciation for the history of the Order of the Arrow in Virginia as I learn more about the background of issues from Lodges I have never focused on before.

A perfect example is a recent addition to my collection pictured above, the Tutelo Lodge S-62 flap that was issued in 2004 to recognize the amazing achievements of their Arrowmen at prior National Order of the Arrow Conferences. The central feature of the design is a volleyball with three crossed arrows that have the years ’98, ’00, and ’02 superimposed upon the arrowheads.  When I was getting ready to slip this patch into a protective sleeve with a labeled descriptive card and then into my Tutelo Lodge album I noticed some letters and numbers ghosted into the black tips of the feathers that hang from the bottom of the flap. Curious to know their meaning, I consulted via email a longtime trading friend and member of Tutelo Lodge, Arvid Englund.  When I saw Arvid’s comprehensive answer I knew I had found the right expert:

The Letters are the initials of the dancers from the Lodge that made it into the top ten in their style at NOAC and got to dance on stage in front of all the NOAC participants during the AIA show. CB is Chris Bryant (lucky number 57) 5th place Northern Traditional Style in 1996(?), ME is my brother, Micah Englund– 2nd place Northern Traditional in 1998, JB is Johannes Bosch, Top Ten (we think 7th) Grass Dance in 2000, BG is Brandon Gregory, 5th place Northern Traditional in 2002 (Then was National Champion in 2004).

The “3 Peat” is not actually about the Dancers, it refers to Tutelos 3 consecutive National Championships in Volleyball… Of which I am the only Arrowmen to play on all three teams, and the 4th time where we were runner up in 2004

Learning the background of this patch gave me insight into achievements of Tutelo Arrowmen that occurred over a decade ago that I would otherwise never have appreciated. It’s a perfect example of how the hobby of collecting Scout emblems has a much deeper background and purpose beyond simply checking off another item from your needs list. If you stop and learn about your acquisitions you’ll be far richer for the experience.

1997 SR-7 Conclave host and standard jacket patches - click to enlarge

The 1997 SR-7 conclave hosted by Catawba Lodge 459 at Clear Creek Scout Camp near Midland, NC on April 18-20 of that year included over 1,500 attendees from the 12 lodges that comprised the Section. The host lodge flap declared it “The Last Cardinal Conclave” because afterwards the Section would be split into SR-7A (Virginia) and SR-7B (North Carolina) due to the great distances between the lodges which made travel to Section events difficult.

Larry Johnson recently provided scans of the two back patches that were issued for this event. They feature the same design as the pocket patch, with the regular issue featuring a red border and the Host Lodge version a gold mylar one, similar to the Host Lodge pocket patch. Each measures approximately 5″ wide x 8″ tall.

SR-7 only lasted for four years, from 1993 until 1997. During that time 54 known conclave and section items were issued, as well as 28 conclave delegate emblems from their member lodges.

Things have been quiet around the VA-OA.org web site since the SR-7A conclave back in March. I was excited recently to see two auctions on eBay for 1978 and 1979 SE-1 conclave items that included the ceramic mugs issued for those events. I’ve never collected mugs other than those from Kecoughtan Lodge, but I really wanted to include pictures of them on this web site, so I bid for and won them.  Still trying to figure out how to store what appears to be a newly expanding mug collection!

If you happen to have mugs from any of the events listed on VA-OA.org and I don’t have a photo please help keep my collection small and inconspicuous by sending me pictures of them!

From 1982 to 1993 the 7 Virginia-based lodges comprised Southeast Region Section 8 (SE-8). When the BSA reorganized their regional structure in 1993 the South Central and Southeast regions combined to form a new Southern Region. Nawakwa 3, Blue Heron 349, Kecoughtan 463, and Chanco 483 joined 10 lodges from North Carolina to form the new Southern Region Section 7 (SR-7).

SR-7 was the only new section that did not hold a conclave in 1993, instead waiting until the following year to hold their first section gathering. The initial SR-7 Conclave was hosted by Keyauwee Lodge 70 at Camp Wenasa in Brown Summit, NC.

The conclave in 1995 was hosted by Nayawin Rar 296 at Tuscarora Scout Reservation in Four Oaks, NC. They were originally scheduled to host the SR-7 Conclave in 1996, but the conclave rotation was changed to allow them to host the conclave during their 50th anniversary in 1995. Over 1,200 arrowmen were in attendance.

The conclave emblems for this event are unique in a number of ways that will interest collectors.

First, none of the conclave emblems include lodge numbers. The only clue to the host lodge in the design is the nighthawk, totem of Nayawin Rar.

Secondly, there are two design variations of the chevron-shaped pocket patch. The name of the annual SR-7 gathering was changed from “The Old North State Conclave” to “Cardinal Conclave” beginning in 1995 (the cardinal is the state bird of both North Carolina and Virginia). The original design features “Southern Region Section-7″ in yellow lettering at the top (see above). The later version adds a cardinal to the design of the patch on the left side and the lettering at the top of the patch is changed to “Cardinal Conclave Section-7″ in red (see below).

Other items issued for the conclave, including the neckerchief, hat pin, and jacket patch all feature the original design with yellow lettering and no cardinal.

In addition to explaining the yellow and red variations of the 1995 SR-7 conclave pocket patch Rick Horne provided a picture of a rare host lodge version of this patch that was a very limited issue. It also features the original design with yellow lettering and no cardinal.

Virginia OA lodges belonged to Section SR-7 for just four years. The 14 lodge region proved too large for lodges to travel easily to events like annual conclaves, so in a 1997 regional realignment Virginia members were reunited with Tutelo 161, Shenandoah 258, and Shenshawpotoo 276 (who had been in SR-6B) into a new SR-7A, while 6 of the Carolina lodges formed SR-7B and the remainder joined SR-5.

Although the Virginia lodges’ time in SR-7 was short, it was memorable. The July 1995 edition of the Kecoughtan Kryer described the conclave hosted by Nayawin Rar as having “patch trading beyond imagination” and reported that “the friendliness of the host lodge was overwhelming. It was all fun.”

Thanks to Rick Horne for the details about the SR-7 1995 Conclave pocket patch variations and Rob Higgins for his invaluable oasections.com site that tracks regional organization of the Order of the Arrow from inception until present.

In 1972 the Historical Committee of Blue Heron Lodge published a comprehensive booklet entitled Heron Stalks, Blue Heron Lodge Annual, 1971-1972. Lodge Historian and former Lodge Chief Tom Webb noted in the foreward that it was the first time in 20 years that Blue Heron had published an annual report.

The first part of the booklet is devoted to a Lodge History that spans the first 25 years of Blue Heron, and includes rare photographs of the Lodge’s first Ordeal at Camp Darden. The remainder of the booklet provides a fascinating glimpse into the state of Blue Heron Lodge in the early 70′s, when Area 3-C was in it’s final days and the change to SE-1 was on the horizon. Photos and information about other Virginia lodge events are plentiful, too.

Heron Stalks is now available for your reading pleasure.  If you are at all interested in the history of the Order of the Arrow in Virginia, you’ll enjoy it immensely.

In 1968 Virginia OA lodges attended the Area III-C Pow Wow, hosted by Powhatan Lodge 456 at Camp Powhatan in Hiwassee, VA. The fee to attend this event was $5.50, plus another $.50 for breakfast on arrival Saturday morning.

The Kecoughtan Kryer January 1969 edition reports conclave fees for the Pow Wow hosted by Nawakwa Lodge were $7.00. The National OA Conference at the University of Indiana in Bloomington the same year cost $85 including transportation.

In 2011 the fee to attend the SR-7A conclave is $40.00, a 667% increase over what an Arrowman paid in 1968. This is more than the standard rate of inflation from 1968-2001 which was 542%. Still, things cost a lot less back in 1968: gasoline was 34 cents a gallon, a postage stamp cost a nickel, and a car averaged $2,450. The average annual income was $9,670 and the minimum wage was $1.60 an hour. The consumer price index doesn’t track Scout patch prices, but I feel pretty sure that they’ve soared in cost, too.

I’m not sure if the recent Nawakwa Lodge Trail Crew workday at the George Washington / Thomas Jefferson National Forests qualifies as a Section event, but I do know that the lodge flaps they issued for the occasion are mighty cool.

There are three versions, a red bordered trader, a green bordered participant patch, and a red ghost version for those who are helping out for a second time. All feature a Trail Crew Cardinal wearing a hard hat and OA sash leaning on a shovel. You can click on the images above for larger views.

Hats off to Nawakwa Lodge for continuing the Section’s commitment to provide cheerful service in the National Forests long after ArrowCorps5 in 2008.

On January 1, 1973, Powhatan Lodge 456 and Koo Koo Ku Hoo Lodge 161 merged to form a new lodge, Tutelo 161. The new lodge was named after the last known tribe to inhabit the site of the council’s Camp Powhatan, located in rural Pulaski County, Virginia.

With the first Section SE-1 conclave just a few months away, the new Lodge didn’t have time to order emblems for the event. Brad Roscoe, Tutelo’s first Chief, created leather flaps for the Lodge 161 contingent. The first group he made were on a darker leather. A second batch were on a lighter leather. Reportedly there were six of the first variety and 35 of the second. The contingent also wore handmade blue neckerchiefs with the lettering “TUTELO 161″ inside three arrows (the lodge’s new totem).

It would be nearly 20 years before a Virginia OA lodge wore a flap shaped contingent patch to their Conclave. Nawakwa Lodge wore a delegate flap patch to the 1991 SE-8 conclave, pioneering a tradition that carries on today. But most Virginia Arrowmen probably aren’t aware that the first flap shaped conclave contingent patches were designed and created by a resourceful Lodge Chief who was intent on making sure the new lodge identity was not missing at the first conclave they attended.