Santee Forms Voltron in 2020
Ever since the 75th Anniversary of the lodge way back in 2013 Santee has created an activity patch set for all lodge events. Each year in the fall a committee takes design proposals and settles on one to carry the entire lodge year program. These patches are usually ordered all at once from the patch manufacturer so that the pieces can be sized together and fit just right. Often times these sets have been puzzle sets with exceptions for 2014 when the lodge hosted the Dixie Fellowship and 2018 for the 80th anniversary.
For 2020 the leadership created a Voltron themed set designed by Todd Knaperek and Jason Spangler. For those of you that don't remember your Saturday morning cartoons Voltron is an animated television series franchise that features a team of space explorers who pilot a giant Super Robot known as Voltron. In the original series there were 5 vehicles that came together to form Voltron. Since the lodge has 6 events during the year the designers got a little creative with making it all work. The events in order on the calendar are Winter Banquet, Spring Fellowship, OA Work Weekend, OA Week, Summer Fellowship, and Fall Fellowship. Ironically due the Covid-19 pandemic only Winter Banquet and Spring Fellowship were held. It is hoped that conditions will allow for a fellowship in the fall. The lodge ordered 300 sets total and brothers who purchased an all event pass (called the Parakeet Pass) were allowed to get complete sets at the Winter Banquet.
The idea for making a Voltron flap to match this set didn't come on until after the cancellation of the 2020 NOAC. For the Dixie Fellowship (also cancelled) the 
lodge was making a spirit theme flap. For NOAC the lodge leadership was considering a colorful beach themed patch with art from a Grand Strand artist. The leadership did produce the Dixie flap (the story to be told in another blog post) but held off on ordering the NOAC set. There is a good chance that design might get recycled for a future event. Momentum was the replacement event imagined by the National OA to take place during the same week as the cancelled NOAC at Michigan State University. Since it was being held at the BSA owned property in West Virginia there was hopes that this event would indeed happen. Jason Spangler got his graphic artist friend Todd Knaperek to circle back to this Voltron theme and come up with a Momentum flap. The lodge leadership went for it and placed an order for 300 of the flaps. As of writing this post lodge members have been allowed to purchase 5 each while registered delegates of the eventually cancelled Momentum event could get 10.
Shared by Webmaster Jason Spangler
patch pictures courtesy of Mark Hall