HISTORY – ORDER OF THE GOLDEN FEATHER

(current as of January 19,  2021)

The Order of the Golden Feather (OGF) is and always has been a story about service, ideals and integrity.  It is also, of course, a story about the organization itself and its individual members, but the three themes of service, ideals and integrity are the constants that hold it all together.

Any recounting of the OGF needs to start at the beginning, and that occurred on April 5, 1959 when the VBA formally adopted the award by its inclusion in the Bylaws as Article 16.  Rather than summarize or interpret the wording, it is quoted here exactly as adopted:

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“Preamble

            The Virginia Bowhunters Association, Inc., will create an order to be known as the “Order of the Golden Feather;” the purpose of which will be to honor those persons who have given unselfishly of their time and talents toward the betterment of archery and archers; bestowing the highest honor of the Virginia Bowhunters Association on archery's most respected individuals in Virginia.

This Order will be bestowed in Honorary recognition with no specific duties or authority except governing the acceptance of additional members to this Order.

Recipients of this order will be persons who possess the virtues of sportsmanship character, morals, integrity, and friendship. They must have rendered outstanding service to Archery and/or the Virginia Bowhunters Association, Inc.

Rules

Candidates will be submitted to the Board of Directors by the June meeting of each year, at which at time the nominee’s qualifications will be read.

At the September meeting, a ballot will be issued to each director of the V.B.A., who will vote for a maximum of three of the proposed candidates which will be submitted to the Order for final approval.  The candidates will be elected by a 90 per cent majority vote of the Order.

The Order will report in writing to the V.B.A. secretary the results of their selection thirty days prior to the January meeting and the V.B.A. secretary will request the recipients’ presence at the January meeting. The Order will be prepared to present the Order at this meeting.

The award of the Order will be a suitable lapel pin, a patch and a certificate.

Qualifications

1.  A Candidate must be a member in good standing at the time of application.

2.  A candidate must be a member of the V.B.A. a minimum of three successive years prior to his application.

3.  An applicant must be sponsored by either three V.B.A. members of good standing or by an affiliated club of the V.B.A.

Original Order

The original Order to consist of not more than ten persons.

The committee recommends that the following persons be bestowed the ‘Order of the Golden Feather’:

Robert (Bob) Monteith, posthumous

Harry (Hap) Harland

R.C. (Bob) Thompson

Harry Bunting

Robert (Bob) Gillespie

James Oglethorpe

W.M. (Bill) Bennett

McKelden (Doc) Smith

Ross Garletts

Joe Parker

("Founder, Service to V.B.A., Longevity of Service, Continued Interest, Pioneers in Archery, Hunting Laws, Promoting the Sport, Participating on Local and State Level, Fellowship.")

These persons possess more than one of the above qualifications.”

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The individuals who crafted the original Bylaws words and those who approved them had the good sense to provide a framework without at the same time being overly detailed.  This has served the VBA and OGF well as it has provided both guidance and flexibility as the Association and the sport of archery have evolved over the years.  

As part of that evolvement, there have been two key tweaks to Section 16 of the Bylaws, but the bulk of the original wording remains intact.

One change centers on the rules.  In March 1981, the VBA clubs approved a change where candidates would be nominated at the March VBA meeting; club representatives would cast their votes at the June meeting and pass the names to the OGF whose membership would then vote in September.  The result of the OGF vote was to be immediately reported to the Executive State Secretary who in turn would notify those accepted as well as those not accepted.  In anticipation that the resolution would be passed, the VBA notified clubs to submit their nominations in March 1981 so this new process was immediately implemented.

The other key change involved qualifications.  The VBA itself was relatively new when the award was established so only three successive years of membership prior to nomination was required.  As the VBA matured, this period was thought to be too short so the successive membership period was extended to ten years.  The exact date of this change is not in the OGF records but it likely happened in the 1980s.

The location of the presentation ceremony was itself a matter of discussion in 1959.  One view was that the awards should be presented at the State Championship Tournament since this would be the largest gathering of archers during the year.  An alternate view was that that since this presentation was the highest possible VBA award a tournament venue would not provide the type of dignity desired and there would also be distraction due to the presentation of other awards.  The matter was referred to an OGF committee and it was decided to present the awards at an official VBA meeting.  In 2004, the VBA and OGF further modified the sequence of events and changed from a VBA meeting venue to award of the certificate, pin and patch at the annual VBA banquet, generally held in the March/April period. 

Historical documents reveal that the VBA leadership took its cue for the creation of the OGF from a similar organization that was formed in Alabama.  The November 1958 publication (Volume 1, No. 6) of FLIGHT – the official publication of the VBA – had the following article on page 3, much of which in historical context looks strikingly familiar:

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“Order Of The Silver Feather

The Alabama Archery Association has come up with what sounds like an excellent idea.  This is their Order of the Silver Feather.  This is to be an honorary organization in archery.  Its membership is by nomination and selection by the clubs affiliated with the Alabama Archery Association, or in our case the Board of Directors.  The first year, 1958, seven members will be elected to charter membership in order to form a nucleus for the organization.   The following years not more than three members may be added.  Eligibility for membership shall be on the following consideration:  First, contribution toward furthering the sport of archery; second good sportsmanship and third ability as an archer.  Surely it is time that outstanding archers receive some consideration for something besides their ability as an archer.  This organization is entirely honorary.  Sort of a Hall of Fame for Archery.”

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The minutes of the January 4, 1959 VBA meeting show that Gene Limerick was called upon to give his ideas of a similar order for Virginia.  Limerick gave a short description of his proposal for an “Order of the Silver Feather” but did not include how the first members of the Order would be selected or how later selections would be made or the standards for the selections.  These issues plus a mention that “hard feelings could be created by just such an order” lead to a motion and amendment that created a committee of six persons to study the idea and report at the April 1959 meeting.  The report was to include a proposal for enactment if the committee supported the concept.  The six committee members were Bo Gillespie (Chairman), Harry Bunting, Hap Harland, Gene Limerick, Jim Oglethorpe and Pat Hamilton. 

The April 5, 1959 VBA minutes report that the committee met on March 7 at the William Byrd Hotel in Richmond from 3PM to midnight.  Oglethorpe was absent due to work requirements but submitted a written outline and Harland was out of town but relayed his ideas via telephone.  The submitted report said, “It was a unanimous opinion of the committee that such an order could be created and carried out without causing dissention.  We discussed thoroughly each phase and all possible loopholes that might be detrimental to continuance of the Order on the high plane of its original intent.”  The report went on to submit the document quoted at the beginning of this article. 

The committee document was approved for adoption by the VBA and thus was born the Order of the Golden Feather.

By the June 1959 VBA meeting, a committee had been appointed to work on the details for a lapel pin, certificate and brazzard  (NOTE:  this word comes from the VBA minutes and is likely a typographical error.  Intended was probably brassard as another term for a patch), the results of which were to be presented at the January 1960 meeting.  The next mention of the OGF in FLIGHT appears in the March 1960 (Volume 2, No. 5) issue.  There was a drawing of a proposed pin and patch for the OGF by artist Jack Griffin along with the following article:

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“Lapel Pin and Patch For Order of Golden Feather

Above are pictures of the proposed lapel pin and patch for the Order of the Golden Feather.  The purpose of this Order is to honor those persons who have given unselfishly of their time and talents toward the betterment of archery and archers; bestowing the highest honor of the Virginia Bowhunters Association on archery’s most respected individuals in Virginia. 

The Order will have no specific duties or authority except to govern the acceptance of additional members to the Order. 

The Original Order consisted of the following ten persons:

Robert (Bob) Monteith, posthumous

Harry (Hap) Harland

R.C. (Bob) Thompson

Harry Bunting

Robert (Bob) Gillespie

James Oglethorpe

W.M. (Bill) Bennett

McKelden (Doc) Smith

"Founder, Service to V.B.A., Longevity of Service, Continued Interest, Pioneers in Archery, Hunting Laws, Promoting the Sport, Participating on Local and State Level, Fellowship."

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Two items in this article stand out.  First, the drawings of the proposed lapel pin and patch, below:

matched the design of the pin and patch adopted and used until 2011.  The original patch design is still used today and sufficient patches are on hand for several years.  The last pin in the original purchase of 100 pins was awarded in 2010.  The original manufacturer was out of business so a new pin was adopted that was extremely close to the old design but not exact.  The new patch and pin (which included a chain so it so it could be used as either a lapel pin or a tie tack), is shown below. 

The new pin was an acceptable result to the VBA and OGF since it maintained a reasonable cost ($10 for an OGF member to purchase a second pin) and was only a minor deviation from the original design by the founders of the Order.

Secondly, the article says there were ten members of the original Order but then printed only eight names leaving out Garletts and Parker.  Whether this was an oversight or whether it accurately reflected the thinking at the time was not clear. 

Shortly thereafter, in December 1960 FLIGHT (Volume 3, No.3) published a report that cleared the air.  The eight members mentioned in the article were inducted in September 1960 and the Directors voted that month to confirm the nominations of Garletts and Parker as original members.  The February 1961 issue (Volume 3, No. 4) reported they were formally inducted in January 1961. 

Since its founding in 1960 through the fall of 2020, only 86 individuals have been inducted into the OGF – an average of about 1.5 per year with the average being helped by the initial class of ten members.   This rate reflects the appropriately high standards for membership and a grateful recognition by the tens of thousands of VBA members through the years of those special individuals who far exceeded the expected standards of VBA membership and participation. 

A listing of the current and deceased members as well their club affiliations at induction is enclosed at the bottom of this article.  The listing also indicates whether there is a picture of the individual in the OGF archives.  Anyone reading this history who has a photo of those not represented is asked to contact the VBA Executive State Secretary and provide a copy.

After the initial elections, OGF members were nominated, approved and elected in their respective years according to the OGF rules then in effect.  Space in this history does not allow a full accounting of each individuals qualifications but suffice to say they are each extensive and impressive in their support to and participation with the VBA.  The individual nominations provided for VBA and OGF voting reveal that the high standards for acceptance envisioned by the founders has been upheld. 

Like other honorific organizations, it was possible the group could have regressed into an “old boys club” but it is entirely within the character and purpose of the OGF that such an outcome has not happened.  The standards are still service, ideals and integrity – not who you know.  A person does not become a member by being part of a clique or other special group but rather succeeds only by being an effective VBA participant across a wide range of activities – even being an internationally recognized archer is not enough because excellent skills in the sport do not translate to service.  Also, a person does not become a member by being an outstanding volunteer within a VBA club or VBA region. These individuals are absolutely necessary for the health of the organization but their activities don’t have impact across the entire state.   And, finally, membership is not bestowed on individuals who have a bright moment in the spotlight with a singular outstanding achievement.  Instead, sustained superior performance and service over multiple years is the minimum standard.  A review of the records revealed that individual nominations ultimately not accepted by the VBA Board of Directors or the members of the OGF itself usually failed not because the nominee was not a excellent individual or not because of their contributions but rather because he or she fell short of service and success over an extended period that impacted the entire VBA and archery across the state.

Unfortunately, there were limited historical references to the OGF members and activities in FLIGHT.  For example, after the first inductions in late 1960 and early 1961, the next mention of acceptance into the Order was the 1964 inductees.  Typical of other entries to follow in later years, the 1964 reference was a brief story with their names and jobs held that led to their selection.  Especially in the early years, there was no mention of the selected archer’s home club.

This lack of information is not surprising because the Order itself as an honorary organization did not conduct newsworthy events.  Naturally there were meetings, informal shoots and social gatherings, but these did not rise to the level of coverage by FLIGHT.

The meetings of the OGF have always been informal affairs, perhaps because there have never been elected officers in the OGF but most likely because the gatherings were a time to socialize in addition to the serious business of voting on member nominations from the VBA.  In addition to voting on new members, the OGF often discussed items of interest to the VBA, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (since renamed to the Department of Wildlife Resources) and other organizations.

The first record in the OGF historical files is a letter from Bob Gillespie calling all OGF members to the 1973 annual meeting, which would be held at Pinederosa Lodge in Big Levels, near Stuarts Draft, VA.  The lodge was available to those who wanted to do a little hunting before the meeting, which would include potluck snacks.  Although the OGF does not have elected officers someone needed to call the meetings, take notes, notify the VBA of the results of votes on the OGF nominations and other similar duties.  Gillespie had stepped up to that challenge.  Unfortunately, he passed away in 1974 and Clinton Western - at Gillespie’s request before his passing – took over the leadership role, a responsibility he continued to hold for 33 years until he passed the mantle to Dave Burpee in 2007.

The 1974 through 1987 OGF meetings were held at BUCKSNORT (the mountain lodge of G. B. Booth, Jr. near Staunton) with only one deviation to the private residence of an OGF member.  The 1982 meeting was typical.  This particular event (and many others) involved a pot luck dinner.  There was no mention of hunting or shooting a round of archery, but these activities also took place at OGF annual meetings.  The 1982 meeting also kicked off the attempt by the OGF to capture a 3.5 X 4.5 inch photo of each OGF member               

After 1987, the venues changed often to include the Hotel Pinederosa, the Best Western in Charlottesville, Sherwood Archers, the Peaks of Otter restaurant on the Blue Ridge Parkway and other venues.  Eventually, about 1994, the meetings were held in conjunction with the September VBA quarterly meeting.  Typically the meeting would take place on Sunday in the same hotel after the VBA meeting.  The OGF would conduct its business and then adjourn to a local restaurant for lunch and socializing.    

The September 2016 OGF meeting was significant in that it included a discussion that focused on whether to recommend a new award to the VBA.  The OGF members had for many years confronted a dilemma that centered on nominees who were denied entry into the OGF.  The OGF correctly denied entry to persons who had excelled at the Club or Region level but did not meet the standard that included service and impact at the State level.  There was a desire to reward these individuals, but election into the OGF was not an option.  After considerable discussion, the OGF decided to develop and provide to the VBA a recommendation for a significant VBA award for outstanding individuals whose contributions deserved recognition but whose achievements fell short of OGF consideration.  Dave Burpee was tasked to develop a proposal.  He drafted a document that detailed the criteria for an award to be named The Silver Arrow Award.  The document was approved by the OGF and forwarded to the VBA President on December 12, 2016.  The VBA leadership and Club representatives discussed the proposal and the Fall 2017 issue of FLIGHT contained an agenda item for the Clubs to discuss and then vote on the proposal.  The award was approved by the Clubs in the fall of 2017.  The next period of time was spent in designing and approving the awards as well as fine-tuning the procedures.  The award was first to be given on an annual basis but was eventually adopted to be eligible for award at any VBA quarterly meeting.  The first awards were presented at the 2019 VBA banquet.

The 2016 meeting was also significant in that the OGF membership approved a proposal by Dave Burpee that a significant effort be undertaken to upgrade the OGF history.  Specifically, the goal established was to try to obtain in one book for each OGF member the following:  the individual’s nomination letter, a short biography about the individual telling a little about their family and archey lives, and a photo.  Dave was asked to lead the effort, which began with little more than a few pictures and as of January 2019 included more than 300 pages with more work yet to be done.

The OGF members continue to be a source of history, knowledge and inspiration for the VBA.  Their historical knowledge, continued service and love of archery and bowhunting will continue to carry the organization forward to the VBA’s next major milestone – the 100^th Anniversary – and beyond. 

 

 

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