Can Someone Help Me With This Item

[rer18252 10]

Hi, My Wife Has A Small Gold Turtle With an arrow going through it, With 1915 On The Shell, It Is Hanging From about an inch and a half Of Red And White Fabric With A Gold Metal Thing On The Top, We Would Like To Return It To The People Who Owned Our House Before We Lived Here But Many People Lived In This House Before We Did. So We Need To Know What Year It Could Be From And What It Is Thank You

[Kahuna 172]

A picture would help, but from what you're describing I'm guessing it is a commemorative Order of the Arrow piece. It would have been from Unami Lodge in the Philadelphia Scout council. The turtle is their lodge totem. 1915 is the date the Order of the Arrow began at Treasure Island Scout Camp near Philadelphia. It could date from any time from 1915 on. It could be worth some money if it's old. If you live near Philadelphia, try to contact their Scout office and get someone from the Order of the Arrow to call you about it.

 

Good luck.

[rer18252 10]

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&um=1&sa=1&q=boy+scouts+turtle+ribbon&aq=f&oq=&aqi=&start=0

 

Click that link the picture second in from top is a pic i found since i dont have a camera

[Kahuna 172]

Well, it definitely is Order of the Arrow, but that's all I can tell you. I posted a note on that area and perhaps someone can help you. It doesn't look especially old to me.

[CalicoPenn 729]

From the picture, this appears to be the Order of the Arrow 75th Anniversary Award which could be earned by individual arrowmen - youth and adults - in 1990.

 

If you're looking to return it to the owner, contact your local scout service center and ask them if they have a list of their arrowmen who earned the award in 1990, and if they can identify the person based on your address. This might be a conversation best had in person with award in hand because a phone call will likely be viewed with suspicion.

[Eagle92 110]

Yes talking to your scout service center will work. Another option would be ebay as it is collector's item. I was told National didn't make a lot of them, and that those lodges that turned in paperwork late didn't get it. trust me I was one of those scouts whose lodge turned in the paperwork late and I never got mine.

[ilduncans 10]

I have one of those somewhere in my box of treasures ...

 

Calico is exactly right -- What you have is an Order of the Arrow 75th Anniversary Service Award. There were some requirements for Arrowmen to earn this award, and it was available for one year only -- 1990. The program was later developed into a more-or-less annual service award.

 

Because the award is reasonably recent in Scouting history, there were a lot of them made, but it is difficult to find someone who is willing to part with theirs, so when sold they can get a fair price for something that is not even close to being an antique, especially if the condition is good. I don't see any on ebay just now, but they show up not altogether infrequently.