Western New York Patch History

This site contains a virtually complete assembly of the Order of the Arrow memorabilia issued by Ganosote 159, Tuscarora 284, and Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee Lodge 159. Also included are Pre-OA Honorary Societies and Organizations from the area. These lodges and societies were formerly from the Buffalo Council, Buffalo Area Council, Erie County Council, Niagara Falls Council, Niagara Falls Area Council, Niagara Frontier Council, and the current Greater Niagara Frontier Council (GNFC).

All images are represented in color. The vast majority of the items were scanned at high resolution. Lodge issue flaps, round and odd shapes, jacket patches, neckerchief patches and slides, embroidered and silk-screened neckerchiefs, chapter and event patches, and fakes are all represented. An attempt was made to identify the memorabilia designer (or individual most responsible for the design), the year the item was issued, and the number produced. A lodge history, including location, charter and merger dates, and the names of past and current chapters, were detailed prior to each respective memorabilia listing. Items have been identified using the same approach utilized by the Blue Book.

I have also included a listing of lodge and chapter chief and advisors for each of these lodges. Unlike the memorabilia history, there are a number of holes. Please let me know if you have any information which can fill in some question marks.

The previous version of the site contained pages upon pages of images. This proved difficult to maintain. Consequently, I have moved the bulk of this material to a book in pdf format. The current book is designed to ensure future additions can be easily integrated into the main body of the text. The current version of the book is published (2019). The new version of the book is in draft format. Both can be found below. These are large files.

Ancillary materials (scanned copies of paper material such as lodge pamphlets, newsletters, banquet programs, etc) are being scanned and once complete will be accessible using the link below. Please send me scans of anything you might have which you don't see on this site. Click on my name at the top of the site for my email address.

This book would not be possible without the invaluable assistance of many other collectors including Marty Abramson, Don Ames, A.J. Block, Ginny Conway, Rob Cunningham, Harry DeBan, Frank Dingwerth, Don Izard, Larry Jones, Mike Knittel, Keith Lang, Bill Mulrenin, Dirk Norwich, John Reed, Ron Schmidt, Jerry Sullivan, & Dave Zasowski (I am sorry if I left you off the list). The late Roger Lemke was a great resource. Paul Freitag, who passed in 2019, was the person who talked me into the first edition of the book in 2001. He will be sorely missed in the WNY collecting community. Bill Mulrenin has a great blog which often contains images listed before I am even aware of them. Check out his blog. It is a great resource (http://www.nyoatrader.com/blog/). I am also in the process of creating/updating the listings for each of these lodges at Patch Vault (https://patchvault.org/).

Please feel free to download and use the book. If you find it useful, send me a couple of lodge flaps. My son is getting into patch trading and he would love a few flaps. Click on my name at the top of the page or on my dupes/needs pages and shoot me an email to get my address.

I need a few more images to complete the book. I also have a few holes in my personal collection and would be happy to purchase or trade for needed items. Check out my NEEDS and my DUPES list. Email me if you don't see something you need. I may not have updated the list.

2022 Version WNY OA Memorabilia Book (.pdf)	Scans of Ancillary Lodge Paper Memorabilia	2022 Lodge/Chapter Chief & Advisor History
Updated Version 12/24/22	In Progress	14 pages

2022 Version WNY OA Memorabilia Book (.pdf)	Scans of Ancillary Lodge Paper Memorabilia	2022 Lodge/Chapter Chief & Advisor History
Updated Version 2021A	In Progress	14 pages