Patches, Badges and the Old Camp Logo

By Pati Egan

Staff and C.I.T.s  (Counselors in Training) no longer wear these patches on their uniform shirts.  A staff picture from 1988 shows the girls’ and most of the boys’ staff with dark blue or light blue patch.  Beyond the early 90s, the patches were not used.  The red patch was for C.I.T.s, and if they passed the test at the end of the first week, they became C.C.I.T.’s [Certified Counselors in Training] the second week and wore a green patch.

The badge in the middle is the much sought-after Ranger Badge!  These were probably stopped being given out around 1990.  They are not seen in the 1990 staff picture. 

All Camp vehicles were red or red and white and had the red Camp logo on the door.

In the beginning, the girls’ staff wore the blue cloth emblem on the body of the uniform shirt.  The CCITs are in khaki jeans and would have had green patches.

The Boys’ staff always wore the Camp patch on their left sleeve – including these C.C.I.T.s.

By 1974 the girls’ staff moved their patches to the left sleeve.

So, let’s see if we have this straight:

The C.I.T. red patch was probably used until around 1971 with various colors of shirts.

C.C.I.T. green patch was probably only used until around 1970 on a white shirt.

During the 80s, we would allow exceptional C.C.I.T.s to stay the rest of the summer. 

They wore light blue polos with a C.I.T. patch.  The girls went to polo shirts around 1979.

The Senior C.I.T. program was started in 1971, and both boys and girls wore light blue shirts and the light blue Sr. C.I.T. patch.

The dark blue Deputy Ranger patch was worn by boys on a light blue shirt until they were promoted to the Ranger tan shirt.  Girls wore the same white shirt as Rangers and above.

The iconic and collectible Camp Ondessonk Ranger badge was worn on a tan or khaki uniform for boys, and in 1979 the girls’ staff finally stopped wearing the dark blue shorts and skorts and wore khaki shorts or long khaki pants with white shirts.  I was Program Director and am really still proud of this accomplishment.

The vehicles remained red, but these badges seemed to stop being used in the 90s. 

Just a little history of the patches that are now hanging in the dining hall.  Take a minute to stop and look at all of the history that surrounds you as you enjoy your meals.

Click Here to learn more about Camp Ondessonk’s History.