by Frank Schroth

Maybe he was traveling for the Labor Day holiday or looking to pay a visit to the Governor. He didn’t say; but to the small crowd of people gathered at Hinckley and Eliot Streets yesterday afternoon he looked very big, tired and lost.

The turtle must have been 2 1/2 to 3 feet long. And when I arrived on the scene it appeared to be . . . expired. But then someone gave it a gentle touch and it marched on.

How it got where it was – from Turners, the Neponset – who knows, but it needed help. A member of the ad hoc turtle rescue group suggested getting it to Turners Pond. At that point a strapping young guy in his twenties with a shirt that read “No guts, No Glory” didn’t need to hear any more. He lifted it and got in his car with his girlfriend driving. They were pulled over by a police officer who had been called to the scene; but the office let them continue on and did not cite the turtle for crossing a double yellow line.

They drove on (at a fairly high rate of speed for Hinckley), arrived at the pond, and Mr. “No Guts, No Glory” gently placed the fellow on the small sandy beach pointed toward the pond. And that welcome site provided our hard shelled friend with motivation to move. He slowly, silently, made his way to the water, entered it and within a few moments submerged. He exhaled some bubbles and then popped up his head for air and was gone. Thanks “No Guts”!