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). 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.

This site also includes a very complete listing of Area and Section memorabilia associated with the lodges in the WNY area (Ganosote, Tuscarora, and Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee). I have included memorabilia issues by the section. Specific lodge flaps issued for the conclaves are not included (although the Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee issues are included in the OA site). Much of the area/section older issues are complete but some of the newer issues have some holes. I am in the process of converting the original website (which is at least 10 years old) into a book similar to the WNY OA book. I have included an excel spreadsheet with all known issues. Items have been identified using the same approach utilized by the Blue Book.

This site also contains a very good listing of camp memorabilia from council camps in the WNY area. The site contains memorabilia images from the following camps: Birchbark Expeditions, Moss, Schoellkopf, Scouthaven, Stonehaven, Ti-Wa-Ya-Ee, Toad Hollow, North Star, Northern Lights, and Thunder Rock. I am leaving this up online but will be creating a book in the future. Again, the site is about a decade old. I have included an excel spreadsheet with all known issues. Items have been identified using the same approach utilized by the Blue Book.

All images are represented in color. The vast majority of the items were scanned at high resolution. The previous version of the site contained pages upon pages of images. This proved difficult to maintain. Consequently, I am in the process of moving this material to books in pdf format. The format of these books is designed to ensure future additions can be easily integrated into the main body of the text. Ancillary materials (scanned copies of paper material such as camp photos, lodge pamphlets, newsletters, banquet programs, etc) are included on this site separate from the book.

This book would not be possible without the invaluable assistance of many other collectors including Marty Abramson, Don Ames, AJ 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/). Rob Higgins also has a great OA Section List page (http://www.oasections.com/). 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.

Order of the Arrow Memorabilia	OA Area/Section Memorabilia	BSA Council Camp Memorabilia
Updated Book Available	In Progress	Ti-Wa-Ya-Ee Patches Updated

Order of the Arrow Memorabilia	OA Area/Section Memorabilia	BSA Council Camp Memorabilia
Updated New Book Available	In Progress	Ti-Wa-Ya-Ee Patches Updated