Almost...But Never Was (Part 1)

I was flipping through my Black Eagle collection today and discovered something I had forgotten about for a while. Ever wonder how many patches are designed these days but never see the light of day? Well, many years ago my father and myself decided to design a patch for the lodge. I have no idea if our intention was to make a new service flap or a patch for NOAC as a fund raiser. It never made it past the design phase. We sent in a picture of an eagle and basic requirements of what was to be on the flap. I do remember we wanted the American Flag background. It turned OK but we were hoping for a lot better since we sent it into a patch company so that they could design it in a more professional format. Instead of getting a whole eagle like we expected we only got an eagle head on the flap. I think we paid about ten dollars or perhaps twenty dollars for them to do this design. Below is what we got in return...

(Click on Picture for Larger Scan if Available)

We submitted it to the lodge and sadly the designed was turned down. Turns out a few other designs were tucked away in folder at this meeting as well. I believe it was for the 2002 NOAC time frame but could of been around for the 2000 NOAC as well. The lodge asked for people to come up with designs which happens to be a rarity in Black Eagle. I gave it a lot thought and even took it to a professional designer and the LEC spent what felt like less than a minute deciding its fate.

I was crushed by that outcome and despite my love for patches I vowed to myself to never design a patch for Black Eagle again. Turns that statement would hold mostly true. It wasn't until we got some cork material to make some cork flaps that we decided to take a stab at patch making. We were not going to make the same mistake again. Instead of coming with an original design, Dan Coberly, my father, and myself simply decided to go with the Eagle from the old W-1 flap. It turns out keeping the design simple allowed the cork background to stand out even more. The elders in the lodge were mostly aware of the cork flaps but I do not think they were ever really voted on. I stopped attending LEC meetings years ago so I have no idea. It was one of many issues to be adopted by the lodge after they came into being. They were quite popular and another cork flap was made so that more members could have one. My father paid for the materials and donated all money he put into the cork flaps to the lodge. The flaps were pretty popular inside and outside the lodge. My first design was a flop...my second ended up being pictured in the Blue Book. :)