Properly wearing the OA sash on the uniform

[acco40]

I usually only wore my OA sash at Trooping meetings when the boys voted on new members and during OA events - ordeals for new members.   As an adult OA member but not an OA advisor, I really didn't attend more than one or two OA meetings.   It was the one "honor" I was glad my older son received before his dad.   He still remembers a year later when his dad forgot the OA "password" during his Brotherhood ceremony - okay, I've said too much already.

[desertrat77]

5 hours ago, acco40 said:

In my council, the youth made fun of OA sash "condoms" "protective plastic sleeves to keep the sash clean while doing service - usually some sort of dirty work".   In my council, a clean sash is the sign of an inactive OA member - one who doesn't provide much service.   There was usually a clash with mothers (they hated to see the white sash get soiled) but I liked the fact that the kids were proud of their service.   A clean sash showed an OA member was a "virgin" wrt service.   😉

FYI, our council (dating myself - about 10 years ago) had probably the best OA lodge in the country.

Yes indeed, I had forgotten about those plastic sleeves!  I never thought they looked right. 

I recently found my youth sash.  Last worn circa '81.  The arrow and bars are worn and frazzled.  Sash itself is permanently soiled, the result of numerous work weekends, tap outs, ordeals, ceremonies, camporee staffing.   The years of dirt, tree bark, campfire smoke and sweat have left their mark.  

I agree, kids were proud of their service.  The dirtiest jobs were the most coveted.

[desertrat77]

5 hours ago, acco40 said:

I usually only wore my OA sash at Trooping meetings when the boys voted on new members and during OA events - ordeals for new members.   As an adult OA member but not an OA advisor, I really didn't attend more than one or two OA meetings.   It was the one "honor" I was glad my older son received before his dad.   He still remembers a year later when his dad forgot the OA "password" during his Brotherhood ceremony - okay, I've said too much already.

I have a new sash but I've never worn it.  I pay my dues and wear my lodge flap.  But otherwise I am silent about OA matters (aside from here).  Not that I don't have any thing to contribute.  The OA was very important to me as a youth (vice lodge chief, 79 NOAC, etc.).  It's that the OA has changed so much over the years, I barely recognize it today.

So I keep my silence.  If the current members think it's fine, who am I to say otherwise? 

[WonderBoy]

Or, to straddle both sides of the fence, you could do what many of the active Arrowmen of my old Lodge did. One sash for work, another sash for uniforms. (And, of course, over the span of many years it's my "clean" one that I've lost track of.)

[MikeS72]

Over my 49 years as an Arrowman, I have seen all of the 'infractions' discussed here many, many times.  I will admit that I do winch when seeing someone wear the sash incorrectly, but over the years i have learned to let it go.  I will, if one of my Scouts wears the sash to a troop rather than OA function, remind him that we only wear it when representing OA.  At an OA event, I will only mention sash wear to a fellow Arrowman if it is something like a new member wearing it over the left shoulder, and even then, quietly and as an aside.

As several folks here, I also have more than one sash, although only one is still worn.  One of the problems with being around so long is that the sash I received at my Vigil ceremony 46 years ago no longer goes all the way around me.  However, if it was still properly sized, I would have no problem wearing it, stains and all.