SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY

Kommissioner Karl

Getting Your Own Patch

Special Unit Awards

I was surprised to find out how few people new how easy it is to get a special patch made up for a pack event – like a Family Camping Weekend – or Lock in.  There are even economical ways to get DEN patches made for special events that you have for your sons.

 A simple Google search of “scout custom patches” will reveal 55,000 sites hits for patches, where do you start?  Let me begin by saying not all patch sites are created equal.  Looking at 30 of the sites, prices range wildly for the average 3” patch – which fits nicely on the Scout Uniform Pocket.  So start with the basics.  The driving factor in determining if making a custom patch makes sense – is how many you need.  Most vendors will give you pricing on minimum quantities of 50 or 100 patches.  That is a whole bunch of patches.  If your group is big enough, you can get pretty aggressive pricing and a fully customizable, fully embroidered patch including colors, style size – all in the $1-3 each range.  Not too bad for a big event you want to memorialize in a patch.  But I said you can do this for dens – and affordably – how?

When is the last time you looked in the Boy Scout catalog.  BSA national has patch support – which I personally have used for things like our pack Overnight Lockin.  Minimum order quantity is 12 patches.  By the time you give one to each boy – AND adult that helped – there are your 12 patches.  How much does it cost you ask?  About $2.10 per patch.  That is REAL inexpensive, and a great way to make those pack hayrides, family picnics or pinewood derbies feel official.

The catalog is available online at http://www.scoutstuff.org

Then click on the custom design tab four down from the top of the list in the top left side of the page.  Click on “Embroidered Emblems” on the next two pages you see and you will be taken to the custom page.  The first patch is shown there.  On the right side, click on the little down arrow near where it says “Select Emblem” to see all of the designs available and their pricing.  You get two lines of text of 18 characters on the patch – so think carefully.  Something like:

Pack 0000 Annual      - or -           Pack 9999 Bears

July 12, 2005                             Tuscazoar 2005

Your design should be based on your budget.  Getting pre-made designs will cut down on your cost – but if your quantity is high enough – you should consider a fully customized design, as most companies will include the art and design free with your order.

The other thing to consider is the timeless patch.  If you hold an event every year, you can consider ordering more patches than you need and leaving the year off of the patch itself.  For events like a Pack Family Campout, you can award BSA service star to be pinned to the patch to show the number of years it was earned.  This way – you can order 100 patches for your pack of 30 boys, because you will hand out 8-10 each year to the new boys that earn the award.  This lets you get the economies of scale of ordering 100 patches to reduce costs, but still reward those boys that participate every year in the event.

The biggest pointer I can give you is check twice before order once.  Once you write it on the form, it is done.  Typos, misspellings, wrong unit numbers – must be caught at the order stage.  Once you get your patches, they are yours – if a mistake is on them, you will have to pay for a new set to have it corrected.  If you are ordering a patch, make sure you factor in for delivery time.  The average order takes 6 weeks to get delivered from BSA National supply, and other vendors can take 4 weeks.  If you want to have them to present at the event, order early.  If you want them for the pack meeting, you may have to order them before the actual event takes place – so be wary.  You do not want to order more patches than people earn, but you need to get them close enough to the event that they are meaningful for the boys.

Maybe you should try a special patch for your next den or pack event?

Knot of the Month

Den Leader Training Award

This award recognizes the commitment a Den Leader makes to putting on quality program.  In order to receive the award, a person must:

• Be a registered Den Leader for at least 1 year,
• Be youth protection, cub leader specific and fast start trained,
• During your tenure attend at least 4 Roundtables or 1 Pow Wow or University of Scouting
• Meet at least 5 of 10 performance requirements, such as:
•  Have 50% of your boys advance in rank in a program year,
• Re-register at least 75% of the eligible members of your den,
• Graduate at lest 60% of your boys to Webelos,
• Have an Assistant Den Leader that meets with your den,
• Have a den chief who meets regularly with your den,
• Plan and conduct a den service project. 

For more information on the requirements and a downloadable progress record for you to complete, go to: 

http://www.scouting.org/forms/34169/52.pdf