Pati Egan Lodge Princess 1972
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE INDUCTED INTO LODGE? Maybe 1967? I’m not sure.
HOW OLD WERE YOU AS A LODGE OFFICIAL? I think I was 20. My first year on staff was 1971. I don’t think I would have been elected Lodge Princess then because I was real quiet, pretty below the radar, and they were two-year terms. I wasn’t actually elected. I took over from Barb (Schutzenhofer), in the fall of 1971 … but I was co-Princess with Marian (Williams) Blackford. We just decided to do that because we were friends, and why should one be over the other?
WHAT DID THAT JOB ENTAIL? Nothing. I’m not kidding you. Really, the (regional council) sub-princesses and sub-chiefs were much more involved in Camp than the Lodge officers. When I was princess of East St. Louis (at that time called Clan)… we had so much money that we rented a bus and took all the kids to Six Flags, because they worked hard (at fundraising). We would go Christmas caroling. We had a lot of bake sales. We were lucky that (Camp Secretary) Ruth Halterman liked me, and she’d call us and say, “Look, I’ve got a big mailing to put together; I’ll pay you guys. Can you come to my house?” We also had a Lodge softball team. I was an umpire for CYO, which was real big in East St. Louis, so I asked teams that needed a practice game, “Want to play the Lodge?” And we weren’t very good, but it was good PR.
HOW DID THE LODGE CEREMONY THEN DIFFER FROM THE CURRENT VERSION? The girls’ ceremony at the time was pretty tired, so Marian and I added the Fire Dance and a few other things which I don’t know if they still do. Nobody was supposed to be seen except Kateri Tekakwitha before the ceremony started, and the kids that sat people were supposed to be campers, not in costume. So, the effect they were going for was completely dark except for a couple smudge pots, and then I think the line is, “Let the fire that started centuries ago come forth tonight,” and then all the people on the cliffs would light their torches, too, and all the sudden these kids are surrounded by light. It was kind of a neat effect.
WHAT WERE YOUR FAVORITE LODGE TRADITIONS? The fire hoop dance was pretty cool, but not real safe. … The hunter would kill the deer and then he made a hoop out of tent poles, and—get this—it would be wrapped in mattress stuffing doused with kerosene, and then he’d light it, jump though the hoop, and dance with the hoop. I have a picture of it. … But my favorite part: I’d come down from doing Second Campfire and it would be so still and quiet, and I’d walk and see all the reflections of the smudge pots on the lake going back up to the main area. And I have no idea why, but I just got such a kick out of that.
WHAT DID YOU DO SINCE LEAVING THE CAMP STAFF, AND WHERE ARE YOU NOW? I started out at Holy Angels in East St. Louis teaching little kids … then ended up teaching at a different school in Long Beach, Calif., for like 24 years, science grades 5-8 and homeroom. When my parents died, I bought their house, moved back here (to Troy, Ill.) and taught in St. Louis public schools briefly. Then I went to alternative education, then worked for two programs helping people with disabilities get jobs and gain skills to not get fired. I loved it.
HOW HAVE YOU STAYED CONNECTED TO CAMP? I still volunteer. During summer I fix the arrows. I shattered my kneecap in 2023 … and it just kills me because I want to do more; I loved working up at the range. But there’s a limit to what I can do now, and it really annoys me.
WHAT’S ONE THING YOU’D LIKE OTHER VETERAN LODGE MEMBERS TO THINK ABOUT? I’ve always liked that the Lodge ceremony wasn’t static. The changes they’ve made to the ceremony now, I’m all for, because in retrospect, (the older versions) weren’t even close (historically and culturally). I am all for what they do now. It’s these kids’ Lodge, let them do it. Whatever they feel is appropriate, within boundaries, it’s theirs now.
— Sara (Bell) Clifford
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