The Rags and Leathers Program of the YMCA is a series of challenges for individuals wishing for growth personally and spiritually. The Rag program is for individuals who are at least 12 years of age, with minimum ages established for each new set of challenges accepted. For those too young to accept the challenge of the Rag, there is the Leathers program, typically available to campers aged 8–11. Similar to the Rags Program, the Leathers program was designed to help younger individuals accept the challenges of personal growth.

Contents 1 History of the Rag Program 2 The Influence of Ralph Cole 3 Rag Program 4 Leathers Program 5 Counseling and Preparation 5.1 The Raggers Creed 6 The Raggers Emblem and Raggers Point 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History of the Rag Program

It started off as a simple blue bandana, a blue kerchief that would signify excellence for health habits, promptness, cheerfulness, morals, trustworthiness, industry and helpfulness.

In the spring of 1914 Thomas S. Caldwell, 38 years old, was the boy's secretary of the Oakland YMCA and making plans to take a group to summer camp.

At the time the Oakland YMCA owned no permanent campsite, and for reasons now obscure, the site of the previous summer's camp, near San Gregorio on the ocean side of the San Francisco peninsula, was unavailable.

Caldwell scouted the same area and about three and one-half miles inland from the tiny town of Pescadero found a wooded site along Pescadero Creek, the area that would ultimately become Camp Loma Mar.

With that out of the way, Caldwell turned to another problem: during the previous summer's camp he had encountered some disciplinary problems among a group of boys from a lower income area.

Caldwell was looking for a device, he wrote later, "to meet certain problems of discipline by placing action upon a positive rather than negative basis."

His first idea was to present awards for "participation in activities." This followed a method being used at the time in the San Francisco YMCA's camp Jones Gulch, and was based primarily on athletics.

Many years later Caldwell wrote that he presented this idea to his leaders at a meeting before camp started, but it was discarded because they expected a crippled boy, Charles Von Konnigsburg, to be in camp and he would be unable to win an award under the system.

The leaders do not remember this meeting, but almost unanimously they recall a meeting, either in the Pescadero camp or before they left Oakland, at which Caldwell presented a plan for giving awards for health habits, promptness, cheerfulness, morals, trustworthiness, industry and helpfulness. There seems little doubt that the conception was Caldwell's alone. There is no evidence that he consulted anybody prior to this meeting.

The first Rags were purchased for 10 cents each at the Williamson's Country Store in Pescadero and were nothing more than simple blue bandanas made popular by the cowboys of the West. In fact, so many youngsters habitually wore these bandanas that Caldwell was obliged to request that they not be worn in camp.

Within several days after the camp period got underway, Caldwell called several youths out at campfire and, as he tied the Rag around each boy's neck, told him in front of the other campers why he was receiving it. Before they returned to Oakland a rather large percentage of the boys (about 25 of them) became Blue Raggers, and one, Edmund DeFreitas, became the first Red Ragger.

Contrary to common belief, there was at the beginning no religious significance attached to the Rag, although the rest of the camp program contained strong Christian emphasis. Instead, the tying ceremony reflected the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. As a result, that summer Tom Caldwell received the nickname "King," which he was to carry the rest of his life.

Among the leaders in that 1914 camp were Caldwell's assistant, Fred Abbot, who would succeed him several years later as boy's secretary of the Oakland YMCA and who is now retired; Homer A. Gould, now assistant general secretary of the Los Angeles YMCA; George Hjelte, retired general manager of the City of Los Angeles' Recreation and Parks Department and a lifelong YMCA layman; Roland Ure, retired general secretary of the Nashua (N.H.) YMCA; Robert K. Hutchison, retired general secretary of the Fresno YMCA; and C.F. Martin, then physical director of the Oakland YMCA and now retired Director of Physical Education, Pasadena City Schools.

Although the Rag was first given exclusively to boy campers and none of these young men was to receive it for a few years, several of them were to contribute significantly to the spread and development of Caldwell's creation.

And it is at Raggers’ Point, a permanent fixture at YMCA camps around the world, that youngsters still receive the rag today. Usually built of rocks at remote and private view sites, they are rarely destroyed. One somewhat unusual site was a located in Austria just a few yards from the Hungarian border. A group of touring high school students accepted the rag with communist armed guards viewing the ceremony through a barbed wire barricade.

The design of the rag blends four well-known shapes - the traditional YMCA triangle; the square-to signify the four-square life; the circle-a circle of friendship; and the cross-the symbol of Christianity.

While it was Thomas Caldwell who conceptualized the rag in 1914 (at first only boys received it), Ralph Cole, who was named California’s boys’ work secretary five years later, is regarded as the man who took the idea across state lines.

[edit] The Influence of Ralph Cole

There is no doubt that the second most important man in the Rag Society’s first 50 years was Ralph Cole, State Boys’ Work Secretary from 1919 to 1928.

By nature, Cole was a gregarious promoter and tenacious salesman. By background and experience, he was a highly effective boys’ work secretary.

These qualities and abilities, together with the fact that his job required extensive travel to YMCAs throughout the state, gave Cole all he needed to make his great contribution to the Rag Society.

He became a Ragger in the summer of 1920 at the Oakland YMCA’s camp on the Feather River. Apparently he was deeply moved by the experience. From a more practical point of view, he recognized in the Rag Society a tremendous potential for the YMCA camping program in particular and the youth program in general.

First, he set out to “sell” the Rag Society to Southern California Associations. Although in somewhat general use up north, only the Los Angeles and Long Beach YMCAs were using it in the south.

In 1921 Cole obtained use of Long Beach YMCA’s “Kamp Kole,” which had been named for him in recognition of his accomplishments as Boys’ Work Secretary of that Association, and conducted the first Southern California Hi-Y Officers’ Training Camp. In attendance were most of the boys’ work secretaries.

In characteristic fashion, Cole put many boys and, more important, every secretary there through either the Blue or Red Rag ceremony. Thus at one time he introduced practically every boys’ work secretary in Southern California to the Rag Society.

The fact that by the following summer all Southern California YMCAs had adopted the Rag Society was a tribute both to the inspiration of the ceremonies and the great influence of Ralph Cole himself. The latter point is sharpened when you consider the speed with which he was able to overcome the natural resistance to new ideas which exists among all people and organizations.

It was Cole (probably with Caldwell’s encouragement) who first had Rags manufactured in quantity and distributed by the YMCA State organization. He was also responsible for reproduction and distribution of ceremonies and the requirements candidates had to learn, which tended to make methods of presentation as uniform as they were to become for many years.

Not content with limiting his promotion of the Rag Society to California, Cole took advantage of an invitation to speak at a summer school for YMCA secretaries of the Pacific Northwest in 1922 or 1923 and introduced it there.

It is also thought that Cole was either directly or indirectly responsible for introduction of the Rag Society to Arizona. It first appeared in the Phoenix Association in the early 1920s, a time when his influence was being increasingly felt throughout the West and even into the Midwest and East.

Another Cole contribution took place in 1928 when he and Homer Gould wrote the first formal White Rag ceremony. Caldwell had written an earlier version for specific young men in 1919 as mentioned previously.

When Cole left in 1928 to become Boys’ Work Secretary of the World’s Committee of YMCA's, it was obvious that his enthusiasm for the Rag Society had been contagious and his sales job superb. The Rag Society was firmly established and, perhaps even more important, it was crystallized into a meaningful, important part of the YMCA youth program in California.

During Cole’s tenure and into the early 1930s, the generation of YMCA secretaries that followed Caldwell — those directly involved in YMCA camping — began to give the Rag Society its rich tradition. In this period most youth in YMCA clubs attended camp together, which provided a continuity and fellowship that gave the Rag more meaning.

It was this generation that initiated a number of refinements in ceremonies, requirements and interpretation that later became standard.

In almost every YMCA Association where the Rag Society was to become strong and rewarding both to individuals and to the YMCA, could be found a secretary who believed in the Rag, appreciated its value to youth and used it intelligently.

Among these secretaries were J. B. Wilbur in Oroville; Thomas Schumacher in San Diego, Conrad Jongewaard and Arch Raitt in Orange County; A. C. Preston in Long Beach ; J. Delmar Branch in Burbank; Earle Dexter in Fresno; L. B. Schaefer in Oakland; John Holt, E. P. Hunt and John Titsworth in San Francisco; Paul Flegel in Berkeley; Fred Dye and Merle Waterman in Hollywood; Paul Somers and H. J. Payne in Pasadena; Harold A. Wagner, Lorne Bell and Homer Gould in Los Angeles; L. E. (Speed) Lashbrook in Pomona; Kenneth Knights in Aihambra and Charles Crumly in Tulare County.

Wilbur and his wife were the first to give Rags to girls, and their extended tenure in Oroville produced a number of White Raggers among both boys and girls.

Merle Waterman can be given credit for constructing the first Raggers’ Point as it is known today in 1925 at the Los Angeles YMCA’s Camp Little Green Valley.

As many of these men moved into administrative posts in the YMCA, they were followed by another generation of secretaries — those of the depression years.

During the early 1930s, YMCA's were forced to reduce staffs drastically. Generally, the program secretaries remaining were the superior men, and due to the lack of opportunity for advancement, tended to remain in their jobs longer than had been true previously.

As a result, the program secretaries of the depression were able to make an important contribution by giving the Rag Society the meaning and continuity that can come only when one man takes many of the same youngsters and leaders to camp year after year.

[edit] Rag Program

There are seven different color rags in the Raggers Program with each color corresponding to a different set of challenges. Each Rag stands as “an outward sign of an inward goal.” The scarves Raggers wear are called rags to highlight the physical worthlessness. The true value of a Rag scarf is in the commitment that a Ragger candidate makes to better himself or herself. Generally, an individual accepting a new Rag takes on 2 challenges: 1) the specific challenge officially prescribed by the program, and 2) a personal challenge that the individual has set for herself or himself. Traditionally, this second, personal goal is themed around the specific challenge of that particular color rag.

The different rag colors (and their respective goals) are as follows:

Rag Color	Challenge	Minimum Age
Blue Rag	Loyalty to God, country, one's best self and the Raggers' Creed	12
Silver Rag	Respect and appreciation for the principles that Christ gave to the world, your country, other people, and yourself	13
Brown Rag	Serve God, be humble, become more aware of the needs of others	14
Gold Rag	Understanding and concern for others	15
Red Rag	Sacrifice of time, talent and personal will	16
Purple Rag	Challenge to live the best life possible (high and noble living)	18
White Rag	Dedication to a life of Christian service	21

As is quite clearly indicated by the Raggers' emblem, the Raggers Program is a Christian program, with Christian growth and development being key features in each script of the published Raggers' ceremonies. Notwithstanding, people of all faiths and creeds have accepted the challenge of the Rag. Many YMCA camps will even edit and modify the ceremonies to a specific faith other than Christian. Regardless of which faith the ceremonies focus on, the overall theme of personal growth and a closer relationship with God always remains.

[edit] Leathers Program

The Leathers Program is similar to that of the Rag program, with the exception that the minimum age for the program is eight. In the Leathers program, campers work on three different levels of challenges with each level being represented by a different shaped leather emblem that the candidate wears around her or his neck. The shapes and their corresponding challenges are listed below. Like the Rag program, candidates wishing to accept the challenge of a leather must participate in a 1-1 "counseling session" with a qualified camp counselor. Requirements for being a Leathers counselor are not nearly as stringent as they are for the Rags program. Qualified counselors are simply staff or directors of the camp (regardless of whether they have completed the program or not). Campers cannot counsel one another for the Leathers Program. Most campers who complete the Leathers Program go on to participate in the Rags program.

Leather Shape	Challenge	Minimum Age
Triangle	To grow in Mind, Body and Spirit	8
Square	To grow in Mind, Body, Spirit and Friendship	9
Circle	To become close to God through appreciation, love and concern for all of His creation. This includes the earth, all living things, and all people	10

[edit] Counseling and Preparation

Before someone can accept a challenge of the Rag, the individual must meet with a qualified counselor for the specific Rag color he or she is accepting. A qualified counselor is one who has already accepted the challenge of the Rag color being pursued, for example, someone wishing to accept their gold Rag can be counseled by a gold, red, purple or white Ragger.

The counselor’s job is to first assess if the candidate meets the minimum requirements of the Rag color. In order to accept the new color, a candidate must first meet the minimum age requirement. Also, the candidate must meet a proper level of maturity for the Rag that she or he is accepting. Finally, the candidate must have adequately met the goals accepted by the previous rag. These last two requirements are not tangible and are therefore left to the discretion of the counselor as to whether the candidate has met them.

Each counseling session is extremely personal and different. All counselors have a different approach and style in helping a candidate determine if the time is right to accept a new Rag and what personal goals should be undertaken in accepting the new challenge. Counselors are not just an important part of the preparation for the Rag. They also take an active and intimate role in Rag ceremonies. Often, fellowship between Raggers and counselors extend several years beyond the summer camp experience.

In preparing for the challenge of the blue Rag, candidates are required to memorize the Raggers" Creed. The creed represents the way a Ragger strives to act and think towards oneself and others.

[edit] The Raggers Creed

I would be true, for there are those who trust me;
I would be pure, for there are those who care;
I would be strong, for there is much to suffer;
I would be brave, for there is much to dare;
I would be friend to all - the foe, the friendless;
I would be giving, and forget the gift;
I would be humble, for I know my weakness;
I would look up, and laugh, and love and lift.

[edit] The Raggers Emblem and Raggers Point

Most YMCA camps that conduct Rag programs also have a permanent Raggers' Point area designated for the ceremonies. Raggers' Points, similar to outdoor camp chapels are usually situated in quiet, secluded areas; often they are found in wooded clearings. They are circular, with a permanent Raggers' Emblem, often made from rocks, fixed in the center of the clearing. A cross is normally fixed at the head of the circle above the emblem. Often the cross is decorated with the color rag of the ceremony that is being conducted. Due to the nature of some of the ceremonies, there is normally a long path leading from the entrance of the point.

The Raggers' Emblem, in addition to appearing in the center of Raggers' Point, also appears on all Rag scarves. The emblem consists of a circle circumscribing a square circumscribing a triangle. At the center of the triangle lies a cross. The meaning of the emblem is described in nearly every Rag ceremony as follows:

“The circle stands for the circle of friendship of all YMCAs, and people around the world – wherever they may be. The square represents the foursquare life of a true ragger: physical, social, spiritual, and mental. The triangle stands for strength because it is the strongest geometric figure known to man. Because of this strength – we have named the three points: Body, Mind, and Spirit – to remind you to keep the challenge that you have accepted for yourself. And at the center of our emblem and at the center of our hearts – lies the cross. It appears so that we never forget the wonderful lesson that Jesus taught to us through His life – His example and His words” (Brown Rag Ceremony, Page 5).

Different ceremonies require candidates to stand in different portions of the emblem. It is tradition that no Ragger stand in the portion of the emblem that is reserved for other colored Rags.

Even though most ceremonies are conducted at Raggers' Point, there is no hard and fast rule that they must be. Ceremonies can be conducted anywhere where a Raggers' Emblem has been constructed. Out of respect for the emblem, the temporary Raggers' Point should be deconstructed to prevent people from walking through it. Many YMCA travel camps (or Caravans) construct a temporary Raggers' Point at a secluded, beautiful location during the trip. California YMCAs have created Points in Yosemite, Sequoia, on beach overlooks, or desert camping spots.

[edit] References

"The Story of the Rag [1]", Retrieved 2009-11-09.

[edit] External links

• Camp Oakes Homepage A comprehensive resource for the Rags and Leathers program. The site includes an extensive history of the program, copies of all the ceremonies and study guides, and other miscellaneous resources.
• Christian Leadership Conference The Rags and Leathers program is administered nationally in the United States by the Christian Leadership Conference. The CLC website provides the current set of materials for download.
• The Ragger Online The one stop for all things Christian Leadership! Complete with Rag program supplies, YMCA News, and Christian Leadership information!
• Camp Oakes YMCA Raggers Retreat Join your fellow raggers for a weekend of fellowship, fun, and discussion