back when i was a boy...
...i was in the Boy Scouts in the USA. an important part of being a boy scout was participating in camping events, many of which had special patches made for the event. those who attended the event got a patch. it was common to collect them and sometimes even trade a few. that was decades ago and i had forgotten all about them until when my parents passed away my siblings cleaned out their house. including the attic. my patches had been stowed away in a box up there and when the attic got emptied my brother saved them and gave them to me last time i visited the US. i don't quite know what to do with them but i am sure they have value to somebody.
here's the entire collection but i will sort them out
summer vacations included a week at scout camp, which in my district was Camp Squanto. i attended four years and there is a unique patch for each year
our troop attended camping events called camporee or jamboree in the other seasons, spring, fall and winter. not all had patches made for the occasion but the larger events usually did.
as i grew in rank i attended events outside our district and council. our troop had special connections to Nantucket. our scoutmaster's wife's sister lived there and her sons were in scouting as well. some of the best memories of being a boy scout are from trips there
as i mentioned earlier, it was common to trade patches with scouts one met at these various arrangements. i have no recollection of what i traded away but these are what i got in return.
we wore badges displaying our rank on our uniforms, as well as our patrol and the scout motto. i was in the beaver patrol and achieved star, life and finally eagle rank.
to rise to eagle rank one must earn at least 21 merit badge by acquiring and demonstrating skills in a wide variety of fields. one of particular interest here in Hive Collectors is stamp collecting.
so that is my trip down memory lane. anybody interested in scouting patches??