The first sighting of this patch was in March 2000 on Ebay. It was purchased from the man above. The patch reads, "OA Klanjo 1972. Rota, Spain. It was an exciting discovery as it was an unknown issue at the time. I have only seen this patch one more time on Ebay after the initial discovery. It was being sold by TSPA.
David said, "The OA Patches were mine, I was tapped out in 1974 at Rota, Spain as an adult leader, which was a real suprise and honor. It was a pleasant suprise to see that you sent the payment in a TAC envelope. I hope that you enjoy you scouting experiences in TAC as much as I did as an Area District Commissioner in Rota, Spain, there is a lot of great Military Scouters that I worked with in TAC and it was one of the most wonderful scouting experiences that I had in Scouting. I'm sure by now they have changed the Lodge Patch as well as other TAC patches."
I am posting the discovery of these patches so that others can see and share in the experience. A lot of patches are discovered from older members who happened to be there at the time frame. Since Black Eagle covers so many countries it is almost impossible for the lodge to control any formal patch making. Almost every chapter patch in the blue book has been added on a "on my honor" system and most never saw the light of day from any LEC meeting. Black Eagle is a very open lodge when it comes to patches. Flaps and Activity Patches are really the main patches Black Eagle Lodge takes a lot of pride in. It is such shame so few collect the lodge activity patches.
Thanks David for expanding and sharing Black Eagle Lodge #482 patch history with me.
2 comments:
Re: 1972 OA Klanjo patch. I preceded Dave Aufdengarten as ADC at Rota, Spain, and was Scoutmaster of BSA Troop 73 there, 1971-72. I ordered these patches for a fellowship weekend which was to have included chapters from Torregon Air Base (in Madrid), Moron AFB, and the Naval Base at Rota, and possibly Lodge members from Morocco and Portugal.
Up until this point, all functions had been held in Madrid, where the District Exec's office was located. They had meeting space at the AF-supplied facilities, but no space for camping. Our group stayed in a downtown hotel and commuted daily for the meetings. It worked great for us, as our guys got to experience Spain's largest city and some home-cooking (Yeah, Madrid had both Micky D & the Colonel). The meetings were on military time, which left the evenings & late night (Spanish time) for us to roam and explore the downtown areas. That meant great meals, shopping, sightseeing and even riding the Madrid Underground.
By 1972, working with fellow Scouters Ed Walton, Harvey Rinehart, Don Ager, Rich Taylor, and Bob Irvine, we had re-grown the Rota Scouting program (Cubs, Scouts & Explorers) to more than double its size and it showed in the Summer Camp Ordeals. Our Commissioner Staff had involved the OA fully in many of our camporee, klondike derby,local training programs and service projects. So we Commissioners were delighted when they asked for our help to support the next Klanjo meeting in Rota. After all, we had a former Air Force Recreation Area
for our campsite & meeting facility. We had access to a huge base dining hall, snack bar, movie theater, a great beach on the Atlantic Ocean, three nearby towns offering tours of historic cathedrals, bodegas, bull fighting, two fishing ports, and sightseeing along the coast and the Spanish frontier areas.
Our guys covered all of the bases --- scheduling activities, time for training programs, exploration, and recreation. They sent out fliers, invitations,and did follow-up contacts. Based on the response, our Commissioner Staff wrote a check for 100 Klanjo patches.
Then a couple of weeks before the Rota Klanjo, the Madrid group told us they could not arrange transportation to get themselves to Rota. Moron was downsizing at the time and many of the dependent families had left. Morocco & Portugal had never responded, but then we had always considered them as "longshots" at best.
Madrid asked if we could scrap our plans and come up there instead. But our guys elected to proceed as planned and it turned out to be a great weekend in Rota. Each of the guys attending received a patch (which was designed by Rota Chapter Chief Mike Boyington).
Our Rota Chapter made impressive gains in those couple of years. We started an Indian dance, performed over a half dozen "standing room only" shows that summer at the Rota Feria, including a late night Command performance for the Spanish Admiralty; nightly at the Base Scout Show; and for Pack meetings at Rota & Moron; even did a campfire show on the beach when the Girl Scouts held their group gathering in Rota.
Members of the Chapter operated a Crafts Supplies Trading Post at the Scout Hut where all four Boy Scout units met each week --- and were able to outfit our ceremonial team, complete with a Scout-made double-trailer headdress. Our Commissioners bought every Scout Troop a set of the new Cornerstone books & tapes with other funds earned by the Trading Post workers.
Those young Arrowmen were a great team. They painted the huge Scout Hut (the former Air Force dinning hall) inside and out; caulked holes in the leaky tin roof, replaced the 1940's dual line electrical wiring, installed updated fixtures. You can find some their pictures on-line at www.webshots.com (Rota Boy Scouts)
--- Bernie Samonds 11//11/08, deritarep@aol.com
The only correction I would like to make to Bernie's write-up is that I was the designer of this patch, not Mike Boyington. I remember drawing the design out on onionskin paper in the Scout hut at Rota. I still have my OA Klanjo patch stored along with my other Boy Scout momentos from those fun days in Troop 74 at Rota, Spain.
--- Don Ager, Jr. 03/09/10
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