About us...

I was called out in 1984 by Sipp-O Lodge, received my brotherhood in 1985 and Vigil in 2010. My Vigil name is Skattek (pronounced Skah-take) which means Zealous One. My son was called out in 2006, brotherhood in 2007 and Vigil in 2010. His Vigil name is Gischileu (Geh-She-Le-U) which means "He who has proven true". I never really pictured myself as a big Boy Scout patch collector - but I was bit by the bug. We have been scouring notebooks, patch boxes, ebay and trade-o-rees for little gems made of cloth and thread just to fill some holes in our OA Scout patch notebook.

One interesting side note, our OA lodge has been spelling challenged. We have issues spelled SIPPO, SIPP-O, SIP-O and SIPPO-O - it really boggles the mind. We even have one flap - the S10a/b - that is spelled SIPPO and SIPP-O to make the variation. It does keep you on your toes. I think I have purchased the wrong flap spelling of a version at least 6 times already.

The site will have our OA needs list, and traders. Click the menu on the left and see if you have something we need. I have recently been purchasing other peoples flap and patch collections so the dupes box is getting larger. However, if you can't find something you would like, there is always cash to trade.

Email us if you can help us fill a hole. If we have something you need, drop a line and we can see what you have to trade. Good hunting!

Yours in Scouting

Karl & Zach

BLOG:

Spring 2021

I have been horrible about updates. But with some digging and little luck we are down to less than 20 pieces to complete the merged lodges in Ohio. At the same time we started a couple years ago working on the active lodges and have put a huge dent in those in the eastern part of the state. The merger of 56, 619 and 17 added a whole new list of patches to begin to look for - and those have not been easy. The biggest win was getting a 145 Nachenum chenille on ebay in 2019 - likely the hardest and most expensive in Ohio.

Fall 2016

Big news in Ohio is mergers on the horizon in the northeast area. That will add two or three more lodges to the merged lodge list - so more to start looking for. Luckily I have made some great trading friends at Conclave and have started to pick up some of the items already. A long time collector is selling - which created some opportunities to pick up some of the ultra rare items that were missing for a few lodges. Sad to see someone leaving the hobby - but thankful we were the first call.

Winter 2015

Winter blahs. Its the start of the new year and a new TOR season. Hoping to attend Indie, Wooster, Pittsburgh, D-A Scout Ranch, and maybe Chicago this spring. Picked up that pesky 306R1 on a silk chief, as well as a variety of the 350X4 which pretty much made the end of the year very pleasant on the collecting front. Continue to look under rocks and in boxes for those pieces still on the needs list on the left.

Fall 2014

What a year. It has been a busy year for work, family and scouts. Things have been progressing - with the opportunity to overpay for a rare 1926 camp patch from my home council, as well as pick up some early felt activities from the 1930s and 1940s. As those build - look for a new page highlighting the early activity pieces from our predecessor councils. Fall again with a major piece find - the Star from Tarhe 292. Also some nicer mid range finds and we crossed the line to under 100 pieces to finish all the merged lodges in Ohio. Several 3-4 hours trips to western Ohio to work on those lodges as well. The top holes at this point are the 448 F2, 145 C1 and the 306 R1. Some toughies!

Spring 2014

Well its been busy at work, Zach is looking for something in his field - and the patch shows keep coming. It has been nice to see some local folks getting into the hobby - young and old alike. Its always nice to see someone excited to pick up an issue that you may now take for granted. On the TOR front - hit Indy for a Friday only, Wooster in Feb is a growing nice little show for Ohio stuff, Pittsburgh in March ended up being much much better than in years past (thank goodness), and April to the new show in Zanesville OH. May is conclave - hopefully the patch trading is good and we may try to hit the Chicago show Memorial Day weekend. I did knock off a top 10 piece in Ohio this spring - that is a pretty awesome feeling to pick up a piece that only a few are in circulation. In addition, it has been crazy good for finding older scouters, hearing their stories and finding neat stuff. We had a major find for the home lodge - the last of the one per life at your vigil ceremony neckers as well as some great camp piece finds that have those pages brimming with images. Very thankful for all the miles and time to meet such great people.

2013

Again another busy year. Zach graduated from college at the end of summer - and we decided to finish the house updates (for those of you on FB you have followed the progress). As far as shows, went to Indie, Wooster, Pittsburgh, PreJamboree TOR, Columbus, Cincinnait, and Roanoke to cap off the year. Happy to have found at least 15 previously unlisted OA pieces this year, including several activities and neckerchiefs. Also was able to track down some very tough items - to fill a few of the toughest holes in the state's OA. With so much progress on lodges - we are now working on all the merged lodges in Ohio and have started to trade for the active lodges but have no cataloging going on for the active stuff. There have been a lot of updates to the Needs List - and also stumbled into a mythical CSP from Buckeye - taking my needs to complete Buckeye's CSP issues to one...

Fall/Winter 2012

It has been busy - attending the pre-NOAC tradeoree with a new southern Ohio collection on the tables. Followed up with some eBay, the Columbus TOR, first time visit to the Roanoke show and several more collections coming available. It was busy, and happy that we completed lodges 205, 424M, 525W and 109 - a few upgrades would make it perfect.

Spring 2012

Well, we blinked and winter was over. Ended up at Indie, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Conclave. Had hopes of making Calumet, but alas - that was not meant to be. On the collecting front, a big thank you to Jack Meyers for all the help on the camp items. The website was approaching picture capacity so it was a long couple of days resizing pictures and reposting. Rather than post a needs list for camp items, we decided to post the items we have. Take a look and let me know what you think. Hopefully this will grow to be a reference for collectors of Canton area scout camps. Still on the hunt for several issues to finish at least one lodge in Ohio. The race is definitely on - but not one wants to seem to win...

Winter 2012

So the updates turned into a monster addition, adding a couple of bathrooms, and general mayhem. I did manage to buy a couple of nice estates of memoribilia, however I have not had time to go through and organize it. I filled a couple holes - mostly from ebay. The pickings are getting slim, and buying really slowed down, so we decided to add a few more merged Ohio lodges. We are pretty close on 289, 306, 377, 420, 424m, 472 and 522W. The others still have alot of holes, but that is what makes it fun. Planning on going to Indie and Pittsburgh, and maybe Detroit if the time presents itself. Zach may find himself at the Sunshine TOR if he can break away from the school work.

Summer 2011

Well its been a very busy summer. We decided it was time to invest some money into some updates around the house, and so its been contractors and shopping - and very little patch buying. I did pick up a couple needs - to inch a little closer to finishing a few of the lodges on the needs page. I also picked up two more 377 neckerchiefs that no one knew we had issued, one from 1980 and another from 1992 that was given to that year's vigil class. Was pretty stoked to find and then acquire those. Zach is getting ready to leave for college so my patch buddy will be away - but I think he is going to become a brother at Tipisa for his time in school. I sure hope he doesnt start collecting that lodge...

Spring 2011

Another one bites the dust! After much digging - we found and traded for the S2c that was originally in the Topkis Morley collection and was pictured on OAImages. The brown in the antlers is definitely dark brown, so very happy about knocking another need off the home lodge. Pittsburgh was small because of the weather, but some nice items showed up and was able to fill a few needs from the other Ohio lodges that are in progress. We are in the middle of a major home reno - pretty much the whole house so ebay is way down for us - but we are still plugging along and hope to hit a TOR or two this summer.

Fall 2010

Well Vigil weekend is over, and Zach and I are officially Vigil members. I can say - for the first time I am starting to feel like I am too old from some of this kid stuff. We are still hunting the last three flaps to complete Sipp-O Lodge. Zach and I both were fortunate to design several patches the lodge put out this year. Its kind of neat to see your idea or sketch translated into cloth. TORs this fall hopefully will be Buffalo and Columbus, and maybe Roanoke. It seems the Council is conspiring to put events on TOR weekends that will prevent us from going. I did make it to The Summit groundbreaking and was surprised at how much they were able to get done since Jamboree. Two subcamps were completely leveled and they were busy with the third. Was a neat day and great weather.

Summer 2010

Well the heat is off - and the sun is high. After alot of digging, we finally found someone that could fill a few more holes. The remaining items from our home lodge Sipp-O are three varieties of flaps. One is picture on OAimages, and was from the American Scouting Historical Society - whereever that collection went. The other two are not impossible; just need to be digging in the right box. Will have to turn attentions to some of the Scaroyadii items that are still missing. I am hopeful that the fall TORs and maybe the Jambo TOR will help with these as well. I will be at the Jambo TOR on Friday for sure, Zach reports on Thursday and I dont have to be in until Saturday. If you happen to see us - make sure you say "hi".

Spring 2010

Well our anniversary year is under way and its been a busy spring. Zach finished his Eagle in December and finally had his court of honor. Karl was surprised with the Silver Beaver this year as well. Our lodge is hosting conclave and things have been busy. We managed to make it to Dallas, Pittsburgh, and had friends looking for us at several of the other TORs around the country. Let me say that we have only been to a small number of TORs, but Pittsburgh was a real pleasure to attend. So many great folks from New York, Florida, Michigan, etc. and I will say that it was the easiest TOR to trade at we have been to. Really looking forward to attending next year. We continue to make progress and be impressed by people willing to help each other in this hobby. A big thank you to a scouter in Georgia (you know who you are Jack) for the N1a - one of those issues you are content not to ever have in your collection.

Just back from the Tarhe TOR in Springfield. Nice little TOR - Bill did a nice job and with so many kids and family running around - they didnt care if you had an F1, they wanted a patch with a globe on it. Was nice to see so many new folks interested in the hobby. Zach and I are both heading to the Jamboree on staff and will be at the TOR on the 23rd. The website continues to be a big plus and we update it almost every weekend.

Fall 2009 Update

OK - I always told myself, I am going to stick with Sipp-O Lodge, not expand and get all crazy with trying to get every patch in the world. But I found myself buying and trading for OA First Flaps. I now have about 40 different lodge FF, and decided I am going to dabble in building a First Flap numbers set. I know that a few, like 448 are hard and expensive, but I figure I will save those for later after my retirement plan of hitting the lottery comes together.

Zach is starting to work on a Scaroyadii 472 set of flaps. He has exactly 5 issues right now, so not much point in building a needs list for them. If you have something from Scaroyadii 472, drop us an email at the Contact Us button on the left and lets work out a trade. Scaroyadii 472 merged with Sipp-O 377 in 1993. Zach is now serving as Vice Chief of Districts.