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What patch(s) means the most to you?


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As a parent and adult leader the patches don't mean the same thing to me as they might my son.

 

The one patch that probably means the most to me is my son's Patrol Leader patch - which now sits proudly in the top drawer of his chest of drawers. You see, my son has Asperger's Syndrome, and it tends to make it very hard for him to make friends and to fit in with other kids. He fears looking stupid, or bossy, or nerdy, ... you name it. Its very hard for him, though most of the other Scouts respect him and are patient - most of the time.

 

Since he joined the troop he asked for PORs that didn't really involve leadership - Historian, Quartermaster, ...

 

Well, last year, on the drive home after after a troop election night, I was stunned to find out that he had run for and was elected as patrol leader. Before that night he had always said no when I would ask if he'd like to be patrol leader. I didn't push, but always told him he could do a good job if he chose to.

 

He told me that after one particularly poorly planned campout he decided that he COULD do a better job of planning (and if you know kids with A.S., planning is not one of their strengths), so he spoke up when it came time for the election.

 

I found myself almost in tears by the time we got home (he didn't know that). Scouts have brought my boy with such odd needs/problems so incredibly far.

 

Right now he is in the process of scheduling his Eagle board of review. Yeah, I'll be VERY proud of him for earning Eagle, but there is something about that Patrol Leader badge that means a lot to this father.

 

Last night when I asked him if he could picture himself being the SPL he didnt' say no, he just smiled at me and shrugged. Amazing!!!

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#1 My boyhood number, 109 I was blessed to be part of the biggest and best troop in the area.

#2 TI 75TH anniversary staff patch.

#3 My original lodge flap, Unami 1 if which I served as Treasurer in '88.

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1. Eagle patch/knot

2. 50 Miler award (if you knew me when I was a fat bookworm kid, you'd understand)

3. First mile swim, earned in the James river, swimming upstream behind a wooden rowboat (see 2. above)

4. BSA Lifeguard (ditto)-earned in the days of hand-to-hand combat against an active "victim" twice your size

 

Just curious, GreenUniform, how can you spend 10 years in Varsity as a youth? (adults wear the blue background)

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I frankly care little for patches on my own uniform - I do care about what I see on the boys in my Troop.

 

I am most proud of the ones who have earned and wear the tiny little gold star patch beneath their patrol emblem - the Baden-Powell Patrol Award (AKA National Honor Patrol Award). Not everyone in the Troop has earned it and we rarely see them on boys from other troops.

 

I view it a mark of a boy who is applying the patrol method. Keep it up boys, you are running your own patrols and troop.

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  • 1 month later...

One which I wear, and two which I don't.

 

1. Eagle Knot

 

2. Service flap from my origional Lodge (F5), Black Eagle #482, you couldn't purchase them, they were given to you after you served as an Elangomat, I had three, but I think I lost one...

 

3. 1992 Intercamp 25th Anniversary Participant's Patch, although I don't wear it anymore, I had a great time at Intercamp, and since your unit had to be invited in order to attend, it was a great honor to be there. For anyone who doesn't know, Intercamp is sort of like a mini-Jambo for Scouting units in Europe held every year, but sponsored by a differnet Scouting Association year to year. It was lots of fun!

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It has been a long time since I last posted, but I had to share in this thread. My favorite patch was not earned but was a gift from an old Scoutmaster. When I was SPL back in the day, our troop needed new manilla rope for lashing. A saturday at the SM's house was planned for measuring, cutting, melting ends, and finally dipping the ends into different colored paint to denote length. I was the only Scout to show up. After the job was done, my SM rewarded me with an OA backpatch from his lodge, Chi Sigma 546 from the Louis Agassiz Fuertes council from upstate NY. (The lodge and council was merged with another in 1975). I have seen similar patches to this go on ebay for 3 to 5 thousand dollars. I will never part with it (well, maybe for a million cash ;). The next favorite is the troop patch I helped to design for our troops 75th anniversary in 1987. And finally last but certainly not least, is the one on my left arm that says Assistant Scoutmaster, because it truly is a priveledge to serve the youth today.

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It has been a long time since I last posted, but I had to share in this thread. My favorite patch was not earned but was a gift from an old Scoutmaster. When I was SPL back in the day, our troop needed new manilla rope for lashing. A saturday at the SM's house was planned for measuring, cutting, melting ends, and finally dipping the ends into different colored paint to denote length. I was the only Scout to show up. After the job was done, my SM rewarded me with an OA backpatch from his lodge, Chi Sigma 546 from the Louis Agassiz Fuertes council from upstate NY. (The lodge and council was merged with another in 1975). I have seen similar patches to this go on ebay for 3 to 5 thousand dollars. I will never part with it (well, maybe for a million cash ;). The next favorite is the troop patch I helped to design for our troops 75th anniversary in 1987. And finally last but certainly not least, is the one on my left arm that says Assistant Scoutmaster, because it truly is a priveledge to serve the youth today.OOOPS, can some moderator please delete this inadvertant double post?(This message has been edited by local1400)

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