Treasure Island Camp "Staff 1951 Pie"

Treasure Island Scout Camp is located north of Philadelphia, PA and is considered by many to be the oldest Boy Scout Camp in the United States (though Camps Owasippe & Teetonkah claim the title). Located in the middle of the Delaware River, the Camp was in operation from 1913 to 2008.  Devastating floods and changes that saw the Delaware become a national scenic river sealed the fate of the Camp, bringing about its closing as a Summer Camp.  It is best known in Scouting lore as the birthplace of the Order of the Arrow.  Here in 1915, Dr. E. Urner Goodman, Camp Director and his Assistant Carroll Edson created the O.A. as a camping Honor Society.  It has grown into the largest organization within Scouting and sets the example for for Service Above Self to this day.

The patch pictured above was the famous 1951 T.I. Staff Pie Patch.  It was presented to T.I. Staffers as both a patch and sewn on a Purple Silk Neckerchief with Red Piping.  Needless to say, it is considered the most beautiful patch ever issued by the Camp.  It contained the distinctive "Treasure Island Tree" and the old TIC logo that was used on the initial Felt Treasure Isalnd Camp patches of the early 1920's.  Since it was a Staff patch it is a most difficult item to locate.  This particular patch belonged to a Staffer who was a friend of H. Lloyd Nelson, the 1925 Unami Chief.  He presented this patch to him in fond memory of Mr. Nelson's time as a Staffer at T.I. in the early 1920's. Mr. Nelson later became the National Chief and Chairman of the O.A. prior to his untimely death in 1955.