Re: Award ideer!!!

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@ici.net>]

This is actually kind of an interesting idea.  The direction
my mind goes in is the old Camp Fire Girl vest with beads
or the Girl Scouts sash with merit badges.  You buy the
basic garment, and then you earn beads for accomplishments.
Get so many little beads and you win the right to a big
bead.  The creativity came with how you applied your beads
to your vest.  You created your own design.

Now, I can see the guys saying "BFD".  So here's a variant
on the same idea designed to appeal to guys:  naval aviators
have flight jackets to which are sewn embroidered patches for
each of the squadrons they've been in.  (This is where the patches
for each of the NASA missions came from--a bunch of old
fighter jocks continuing their service traditions.)

So, you join AERC.  This entitles you to buy an official AERC
jacket (sold by AERC for a small profit).  Then, you get
patches for each of the rides you complete.  Extra special
accomplishments like regional awards entitle you to extra
special patches awarded freebie by AERC--big nice ones that
cover your whole back or something.  With the comparatively
low cost of computerized embroidery, it could work.  And one
garmet can display to everybody else in camp how accomplished
you are.

Time to get back to work...

Linda B. Merims
lbm@ici.net
Massachusetts, USA