Camporal Strips 1936-1948
Camp Pahaquarra

Randall Holden writes:
The word 'Camporal' appeared with many different spellings and was used by several of the New Jersey Councils. This name was used as far back as the 1920s before the 'camporee' became a more widely use event name..

Ed Dworak writes:
I received my patch from Charles B. McKee who was a member of Sanhican Lodge in the 1930's. He was Camp Pahaquarra Camp Director in 1945 and I met him again at the 1965 National O.A. Conference. The Mercer Area Council patches are a rare find. I would call the background color a light tan. It is pretty close to the early tan color of early Boy Scout uniforms and the background color of the early community strips. Charles B. McKee's story can be found online in the history of Alabamu Lodge 179 from Birmingham, Alabama. Later, according to Dr. Larry Geiring, the story surfaced that when Charles B. McKee died he was buried in his patch blanket.

Notice the left and right vertical lines on the unfolded 1947 patch. The Scout is supposed to fold the camporal on these two lines, with the folded part beneath the rest of the patch and then sew the patch onto their uniform.

Dr. Larry Gering writes:
Absolutely, the burial of Charlie McKee with his Scout blanket was a major topic of discussion at the time. We had all seen the 2R1 sewn on the blanket with other "Wab" patches.

Doug Walker writes:
My Camporal patches are part of a collection of patches earned by Robert Inglis Jr from the Lawrenceville area in Mercer. The 1936 patch and the 1937 patch were issued by Mercer Area Council. Mr. Inglis earned the patches before 7/1/1937 because on that date he shipped out to Greenland for 15 months as a Boy Scout representative on the climate-focused expedition. Mercer Area Council did not change to George Washington Council until October 1937. Clearly there must be a 1935 patch somewhere if the 1936 event was the 2nd event.

From BSA National:
   a. camporall: a weekend council activity in which all districts of a council participate in a coordinated camporee-type program.
   b. camporama: an activity that combines the essential elements of a camporee or camporall and a booth Scouting show.
   c. camporee: derived from two words: camp and jamboree. A camporee is a district or council troop activity that demonstrates the techniques of living in camp. Involves a one- or two-night camping experience and may include outdoor skills competition.

The two links in this section open in a new window. Close the window to return to this page.

Camp Pahaquarra Patch Colection
please contact us if you have other patches
Rockers Row 1, column 6
June 2014