Congratulations to Philip Goolkasian, 17 year old Eagle Scout of Sequoia Council in Fresno CA who is the winner of the national logo contest for the upcoming 100th anniversary of the BSA! Philip’s design was chosen from over 4,000 entries from US Scouts around the world, and he got to finalize his design by working with renowned designer Kit Hinrichs at his Pentagram Design studio in San Francisco. According to this newspaper article Kit is a cloth collector himself, though it’s not patches he pursues. Rather, it’s American flags, and he’s authored a book on the subject as well. He reportedly has over 3,000 stars and stripes artifacts in his collection.

Personally I think the design of the new logo is awesome, and am happy that it was created by a 17 year old Eagle Scout (with some help from another, slightly older Eagle Scout) instead of selected from a bunch of marketing samples provided by various ad agencies.

And although I can’t see the computer in the pictures on this page, the keyboard, mouse, and display all appear to be Apple products, so I’d venture a guess that the 100th Anniversary of the BSA logo was “made on a Mac.”

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If you have eagle eyes you may have noticed a small change to the introductory text on the Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp home page. “The Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp is a directory of helpful internet resources for pursuing our hobby of collecting and trading Boy Scout memorabilia” was changed to remove the word “Boy.” This was necessitated by the recent addition of two excellent web sites related to Girl Scouting.

The Vintage Girl Scout Museum, a site by Nancy White, is exactly what it sounds like, with pictures and descriptions of all sorts of uniforms, emblems, and medals, as well as historical information about Girl Scout programs around the world.

The Girl Guide and Girl Scout Patch Collecting Directory is a wonderful resource for current or aspiring collectors of Girl Scout or Girl Guide patches. Jessica Cangiano has done an amazing job of assembling dozens of links to helpful internet sites along with expert advice on starting a collection, finding lists of councils, and more.

Why the expansion to include Girl Scouts and Girl Guides? It seems only natural to include their program which promotes similar values and purposes, and I have a daughter who entered Junior Girl Scouts this year after entering the program as a Daisy, then spending several years as a Brownie. My wife (a volunteer leader of my daughter’s troop) has pleaded with me not to infect my daughter with my patch collecting fever, no doubt afraid that our abode will be overrun with even more colorful embroidered bits of cloth!

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The first version of the Kecoughtan Lodge 25th anniversary flap reversed the black background of the standard flap with a white one, and replaced the silver border with a black one.

A reorder of this flap resulted in a smaller version with no stitching around the flags. This flap was originally classified as “QS1″ in the first edition of the Blue Book, indicating that it was not an official lodge issue, based upon reports that it was rejected by the Lodge upon receipt and returned to the manufacturer. Later editions of the Blue Book record it as the “S4.5″ issue, apparently granting it status as an official lodge issue.

The final version of the 25th anniversary flap changed the lettering of the “W’s” and the Lodge number from white to black, and were the same size as the original S4 version.

Note: I am testing a cool new WordPress plugin called Highslide Photopress that zooms thumbnail images when they are clicked on. Try it with the images above! For more information about Kecoughtan Lodge emblems and history, please visit my web site http://kecoughtan.com

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In the back of my mind I would still like to have a CSP collection that includes every active council, and an OA collection that includes every active lodge, because those are attainable goals that don’t require winning the lottery to obtain the super-rare issues.

As 2008 has arrived I’ve thought a lot about what I want to achieve with my collections, since I’ve drifted without any clear direction or purpose for awhile (other than working on my Kecoughtan Lodge needs, which have become difficult to find as the list gets smaller).

Fellow collector and patch blogger Bill Mulrenin posted a timely article to his blog, Set A Goal for Your Collection in 2008 that I heartily recommend for all collectors, whether you collect Scout patches or anything else. Many of his points rang true with my own, especially the importance of organizing, identifying, and cataloging the items that make up your collection.

Without knowing exactly what you have, you can’t know what you still need, what you have in duplicate to trade, or what you’ve accomplished already. Not long ago I finally gathered all of my Kecoughtan activity patches, spread them out and sorted them into piles by decade, and discovered that I have managed to acquire no fewer than 3 of several because I hadn’t kept my own needs list updated. My system of tossing newly acquired patches into a box to “sort through when I have time” hasn’t proved successful in helping me enjoy the additions, keep track of them, or store them properly either.

I know that I want to get more patches in 2008, but I’ve suddenly realized that what I really want to accomplish is organization of my collection. To that end I am setting a goal for myself of locating all of my Scout memorabilia, identifying it, properly protecting it (in a ziplock bag or non-PVC album page), labeling it with the issue information and a unique asset tag, and cataloging it so that I will know without a doubt what I have, what I need, and how I can help fellow collectors with their needs.

In my New Year’s zeal I’ve bought an inexpensive barcode scanner, a package of labels, and spent a day cataloging my Kecoughtan items. I got through the arrowheads and chenilles before I lost initiative because I haven’t decided how I want to store the flaps. But at least it’s a start, and now that I’ve shared my goal with the world you can keep me motivated by asking how I am progressing, and sharing tips with how you manage your collection.

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Craig Leighty, President of the International Scouting Collectors Association, posted a message to the Patch-L mailing list on January 11 advising that new versions of their invaluable OA and CSP checklists are now available. I was thrilled to read this, since I include links to both on the Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp, and the checklists had not been revised since July of 2006.

Not only are the new checklists updated to include all of the latest mergers and such, but they are also available in a variety of formats, including PDF, Excel, MS Word, PageMaker, and HTML. The lists are available to everyone, and include a handy membership form to join ISCA. You’ll find them on the ISCA web site here:

OA: http://www.scouttrader.org/References/oa_reference.shtml
CSP: http://www.scouttrader.org/References/csp.shtml

Thanks to Craig and everyone at ISCA for providing these excellent resources!

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While researching information about a 1919 Boy Scout Handbook for a coworker I came across an excellent site that I immediately knew belonged on The Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp.

History of the Boy Scout Handbook is actually part of the web site for Troop 97 of Fort Collins, Colorado. Scoutmaster Jeff Snowden has compiled a vast amount of information and pictures of every single edition’s cover in a well-organized and enjoyable site that is sure to be appreciated by anyone seeking to learn about the book most every Scout has studied, dog-eared, and marked off their advancement in. You’ll find it linked in the Scout History and Museums section of the Base Camp starting today.

The picture above is the cover of the edition I read cover-to-cover to learn the Scout Promise, Scout Law, how to pitch a tent, tie the correct knot, and so much more.

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The National Office of the BSA is seeking assistance from every youth Scout in the country to help design a memorable logo for the 100th Anniversary of Scouting in the United States. The contest is open until November 30 and every entrant will receive a certificate of participation and a patch.

It’s a fantastic opportunity to have your creative efforts recognized. To learn more, check out the 100 Years of Scouting National Logo Contest web site.

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Recently within the span of just a few minutes I received emails from different friends recommending that I check out two Scout-related videos on YouTube. The first was for the great Arrow Ads produced by the Coosa Lodge shows team whose members include Ben Killen, Chris Brightwell, and Tim Hall, the hosts of ClothTalk.

The second message recommended that I view a film created by Jake Topkis that features the voice of OA Founder E. Urner Goodman as he addressed Arrowmen during the 1954 and 1956 National Order of the Arrow Conferences. Entitled Our Founders Voice: Dr. E. Urner Goodman, the film literally brought me goosebumps as I heard Dr. Goodman’s voice for the first time in my life.

Scouting is fortunate to benefit from the worldwide trend of audio and video as media now created by the public. Videos shared on YouTube and podcasts like ClothTalk are just the beginning of what I hope will become as ubiquitous as email messages are today in the world of sharing information about Scouting and the preservation of its history and traditions through memorabilia and collectibles.

I’ve added a new section to the Base Camp called Featured Videos which provides links to the two videos mentioned above as well as to the excellent iSash video, also produced by Coosa Shows, which mimics the colorful style of the famous Apple ads for the iPod.

As someone who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Radio-Television-Film and has worked in broadcast production, I can attest to the many hours of hard work that goes into planning and producing something as short as a 60 second video or a 30 minute radio show. Kudos to Jake and the Coosa Shows team for shining a new light on Scout-related topics by honing their skills on projects that will catch and keep the attention of today’s media-aware generation.

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http://www.patchcamp.com

The Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp is a directory of helpful internet resources for pursuing our hobby of collecting and trading Boy Scout memorabilia, and beginning today you’ll find a wealth of new links to keep up with what’s happening as Scouts head for the Jamboree site at Hylands Park, Essex, UK.

From news headlines, blogs, weather, jamboree radio, and youtube videos, the Base Camp aims to be your central launch pad for media related to the Jamboree, as well as all of the collectibles surrounding it.

Additional improvements and refinements include:

- The custom google-powered search engine has been expanded to include over 60 sites related specifically to Scout patch collecting.
- Over 100 select sites linked from the main page to help you find the patch collecting information you are looking for.
- Hovering your mouse pointer over an icon next to each link will popup a small window with a preview of the linked site.
- Over 100 related sites submitted to our “Free Links” page. Do you have a web site, blog, or podcast related to patch collecting? Submit it today!

In Scouting,

Glenn
—–
Glenn Chase
Webmaster, The Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp
http://www.patchcamp.com

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Philmont Millennium 1 Volume 1 is a book cataloging and identifying the patches, neckerchiefs and neckerchief slides produced at and about Philmont Scout Ranch from 1939-2000. The checklist spans 64 pages, so you probably won’t want to print it out and carry it on your upcoming expedition.

Also added to the Base Camp main page is a link to Tooth of Time Traders, the Trading Post at Philmont Scout Ranch. I was fortunate to make two trips to Philmont during my youth, and they remain some of my fondest and most vivid Scouting memories.

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