A cookout for a den of Vineyard Cub Scouts and their parents last Thursday night had an exciting surprise ending when two young scouts discovered an old treasure box deep in the woods.
The rusted World War II-era metal box contained a cache of gold and jewelry, knives and an old revolver. The box and its contents were turned over to the Oak Bluffs police.
The scouts were having their end-of-season cookout at Camp Duarte near the Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven border. Vanessa West-Fink, den leader for Pack 93, said the box was discovered about 20 feet from a wooded path by Gregory Clark and Harrison Neville-Arena, both nine years old, while they were playing a game and running about. The group had just finished eating hot dogs and hamburgers, at about 6:15 p.m., according to Caroline Fenske, one of the mothers.
When the box was discovered there was much excitement.
“They hauled it out for the dads to open,” Mrs. Fink said.
Inside they found a gold watch and jewelry, some of it possibly quite valuable. There were also teeth with gold fillings.
The interior of the box was wet and filled with insects. Mrs. Fenske said it looked as if the box had been soaked by rain for a long time.
Oak Bluffs police Sgt. Sergeant Michael Marchand said police will investigate to see if they can determine the owner of the box.
Mrs. West-Fink said: “Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts have camped there for years, it is a wonder it wasn’t discovered earlier. This is the story everybody dreams about. Everyone wants to find a treasure. This is fun. It is something the scouts are going to remember forever.”
This article appears in June 3, 2011.
Thank you for running this article. In 2002 this box and its contents were stolen from my husbands home in Vineyard Haven. The police were notified but nothing came of it since the suspected theif had disposed of the property. Thanks to your article and the honorable acts by the cup scouts my husband Rob is being reunited with his family heirlooms. For years my husband has carried the heart ache of having his most prized posetions taken from him and now the heartache is gone. We can not thank the cup scouts enough. And again thank you to the Gazette for running this article!!!!