It’s OFFICIAL Scarf Time Again, Y’all!

If you know me, you’ll know that I’m a rabid Georgia Bulldogs fan. One of our historical rivals is Clemson University, home to one of the more unique color schemes in college football consisting of orange and purple. Clemson’s athletic department has a donor program called IPTAY which stands for “I Pay Ten a Year.” Since Clemson was a hated rival of Georgia, I grew up with the joke that IPTAY really stood for “It’s Probation Time Again, Y’all!” referencing Clemson’s bout with NCAA probation in the early 80s. Hence how I came up with the title of this post. And now you’ve caught a glimpse of the strange inner workings of my mind.

And now on to why you’re reading this post! A few weeks ago, I realized I hadn’t received a Lifetime Membership newsletter from GSUSA in quite some time. I must have sensed a shift in the Girl Scout Universe, because a couple of days later, an announcement from GSUSA to LTMs showed up with this news:

Thank you for being a Girl Scout lifetime member — a supporter who believes in championing girls and each other. We are excited to share a few updates about your lifetime membership including the release of a new lifetime membership scarf that becomes available on July 1, designed with you in mind.

The recycled poly satin oblong scarf (60” x 12”) was inspired by the original Girl Scout Promise scarf introduced in 2008 but with a modern twist!

When I first read the description, I wondered why GSUSA stated that it had a “modern twist” because 2008 wasn’t that long ago, right? Is sixteen years ago not in the modern era? Boy, time flies when you’re having fun. Anyway, you could preorder the OFFICIAL scarf at the time the newsletter came out, but now it looks like it’s in stock for $42!

There are actually two versions of the GS Promise OFFICIAL scarf. The 2008 original one was square (27 x 27”) and the oblong version (14 x 66”) came out in 2016 with its reminder that OFFICIAL scarves are best tied loosely around the neck in case you were prone to tying them too tightly:

One thing I noticed about this second LTM OFFICIAL scarf and the previous one is that they both have a bluish tint that other OFFICIAL scarves don’t have. Not sure if it’s just coincidence that both LTM scarves have this tint or if it’s purposeful. I’m sure there’s some joke in here about Lifetime Members and the color blue, but I never could find it.

Here’s what the first LTM OFFICIAL scarf from 2019 looked like as a refresher:

So since there’s already a LTM OFFICIAL scarf, I now dub thee new OFFICIAL scarf as “Lifetime Membership Promise OFFICIAL scarf.” Yea, now thou be added to thy OFFICIAL Scarf Showcase! in short order. Thou don’t forgeteth thy holy secret code for Lifetime Members when thou placeth thy order.