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John Christgau and Charlie Pickard (John Cleary)


John Christgau spent much time during the winter and two weeks of his summer vacations teaching many of us to make our own regalia. I would guess that all of the OA ceremony regalia was either made by him of one of his students. He was also very good at leather work. I still have in my attic a knife sheath I made using his tools and guidance. He was very generous with is time to D4 during the summer and to Brooklyn scouting during the winter.

Charlie Pickard, a gifted artist who designed carpets and wall paper for a living, painted the Ihpetonga Sign with the Indian symbols for each of the campsites. The sign was really a work of art. It also had the distinction of spending at least half of its existence hidden in one or another division on the reservation. It got "stolen" several times each season. Charlie took the whole thing with good humor.


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