DOCUMENTING THE ISSUES OF BLACK EAGLE LODGE # 482
By Ken Kittelberger
In August 1965, the first known Lodge Conclave was held at Darmstadt. The year was the 50th Anniversary of the OA, the Lodge had recently been reorganized, and the Lodge really consisted of a number of disparate Chapters spread over nearly the entire European continent. Members had an OA membership card, and the "Lodge" was nearly synonymous with "Council Headquarters". It was now time for the Lodge and Chapter Officers and Advisors and the members to step from just being isolated registration cards to becoming active, alive OA members, cognizant of other chapters throughout Europe, and interested in unifying for the birth of a true Lodge. At the time, there was a membership of 460 brothers. Ideas were to be brought for discussion at the informal Lodge meeting at the Council Conference in Garmisch in May 1965. So, the first Lodge activity patch was an orange twill rectangle (70x95mm), with the words 50th Anniversary embroidered across the center of a white embroidered arrowhead.
The color orange was probably selected since the first neckerchief was also orange. A telegram was even received from President Lyndon Johnson congratulating the OA on their 50th Anniversary. A total of 166 Brothers attended from seven districts. A great success.
In August 1966 the second Lodge Conclave was held in Augsburg. The patch is round (80mm), red twill with a green embroidered design.
Camp Mohawk in England was the host for the 1967 Conclave during the summer, probably August. A large contingent from the continent attended, with a total of about 200 Arrowmen and a handful of advisors in camp. The first fully embroidered activity patch was issued, round (80mm) picturing an Indian dancer.
Garmisch was the site for the 1968 Conclave. An attractive 78x93mm rectangular white twill patch with a curved bottom was issued. It featured an Eidelweiss flower (for Eidelweiss District) and the lake and Alps found in the Garmisch area. No date is known.
In 1969, Garmisch was again chosen as the site, and a new term was used: Lodge Fellowship and Training Conference (LF&TC). This year?s patch was a 90x119mm white twill shield shape with a gold embroidered smaller shield inside it. It was also the first patch to have a button loop on the top.
The 1970 Lodge Conference was held at a location unknown to this author. The 89x116mm modified shield shape fully embroidered patch is one of the most beautiful patches that was produced by the Lodge.
In 1971, a 125x125mm pie segment in blue twill was issued for the Lodge Conference, probably held at Garmisch. Arapaho I listed this as patch X2, and it continues to be listed as that. Deviating from all earlier such patches, there is no date on this patch. It also had a button loop at the top.
Camp Freedom in Germany finally hosted its first of many LF&TC?s in 1972, and issued a 79x95mm white twill arrowhead shape patch. The National Chief and Vice Chief attended the LF&TC.
The site in 1973 was Heidelberg, the seat of the Council Headquarters. A 79x95mm bright yellow twill arrowhead shape patch was issued. It was the first time that a slogan appeared on a Lodge patch of any kind, in this case, "Service to Scouting".
In June 1974, Camp Dahn in Pirmasens, Germany hosted the first of a limited number of future LF&TC?s, and issued a 118x118mm square bright yellow fully embroidered patch, set for use diagonally. It also has a slogan, "Bound Together". It is not known whether this was the first Conference held in June.
"Weld Tightly Every Link" was the slogan appearing on the 1975 LF&TC 102mm gray twill patch issued in June, from a location not known to this author. This was the last patch to have a slogan on it.
The 25th Anniversary of the Lodge was celebrated in June 1976 at Camp Freedom with the issuance of a light gray twill 77mm patch.
A Fall LF&TC was held at Boblingen (near Stuttgart) with 60 attendees, but no patch was issued.
1977 was the first year that there were two Lodge conferences, WITH patches. It was also the first year that a fleur-de-lis (FDL) appeared on a Lodge activity patch. In June, the LF&TC was held at Camp Dahn, with a 75x99mm semi-rectangular (pointed bottom) fully embroidered patch in green. A total of 477 patches were ordered, and there were 258 attendees. Dahn was chosen because the Lodge Advisor (me) felt that the camp could use a lot of cheerful service rather than just putting up tents at Camp Freedom.
Later that year, in October, the Fall Fellowship was held at Landstuhl, with a similar shaped 76x101mm yellow fully embroidered patch. It pictured three rivers, associated with the Three Rivers District. It was meant to be primarily a dance team training and competition event, as well as a general training session.
In Jun 1978, the Lodge went back to a single Fellowship, back at Camp Dahn, again because the camp could use a lot of cheerful service. There was also no way it could be held at Freedom in June because of WoodBadge and TLD Training already scheduled. This white twill 80x100mm patch used the same shape as in 1977.
The 1979 Fellowship returned to Camp Freedom, but it was now held in May to avoid scheduling conflicts. It not only used the same shape as the 1976 and 1977 patch, but the identical design on a yellow twill 77x99mm patch. There were 74 attendees.
In May 1980, the Lodge went to a 79mm round green twill patch with purple embroidery. The Fellowship was probably held at Camp Freedom, since from here on, nearly all conferences were held there.
The May 1981 LF&TC featured a new blue fully embroidered 101x105mm modified triangular shape, that was employed nearly identically in 1982.
A colorful 77x78mm fully embroidered patch was issued for the Oct 1981 Fall Fellowship, and for some reason is quite difficult to find, possibly indicative that a relatively small number were produced. There were 109 attendees.
The May 1982 LF&TC issued a silvery 78x78mm square fully embroidered patch, used diagonally. There were 345 attendees, the largest in at least 6 years.
In October, the Lodge returned to a 100x102mm copy of the June 1981 shape. There were approximately 200 attendees.
In May 1983, the Lodge returned to just one conference again, and issued an 80mm silvery fully embroidered patch. There were approximately 300 attendees.
In 1984, the 90mm patch issued stated "1984 Fellowships", which may be indicative that the same patch may have been used for two conferences, one in May and the other about October. Maybe someone can shed some light on this.
A light blue twill 78mm patch with red highlights was the design for the May 1985 Lodge Fellowship. A total of 611 patches were received.
