After a hiatus last year because of the covid thing, the Annual Dallas National Trade-O-Ree is going to happen this coming weekend. This is (normally) an annual event where Boy Scout memorabilia collectors get together for the weekend. I freely admit to being a collector. It is nice to get together and buy, sell or trade patches. It is also nice to gather with lots of old Scouting friends. That is probably the best part.

I have 48 binders on my shelf filled with patches. I have tubs of other patches in my core collection. I also have many tubs of surplus patches that I need to move to new owners some time. I keep several databases of the contents of the collection. My largest type collection (BSA Region 9 Order of the Arrow) has 2375 items in it. That is a lot of patches. That is a lot of data (I have six more type collections.)

Keeping good data is essential. When searching for items to add to the collection, you really have to know what you have and what you don't have. Essentially, your collection is in a digital record. I like to pull out a few binders every once in a while and just sit and look at the real patches. After all, why collect them if you don't look at them? Today's photo is of four binders of OA lodge flaps in my OA Name and Number collection.