Senior letters and sciences major Erica Rabbin has her photo taken in front of a Testudo by senior economics major Zev Geller. This photo was Erica’s 50th and final photo with all the Testudos.

When Jon West drove three hours to Ocean City earlier this month, it wasn’t for an afternoon of beach volleyball or a weekend of resort town parties. In fact, all he did was pose for a quick photo before jumping back in the car to drive home.

Still, the trip was worth it for the senior electrical engineering major, who was able to check off “Taste the Tradition” and move on to “Old Line Terp” and “Reach for the Stars.”

West is one of dozens of students and Maryland fans who are scrambling to get their pictures taken with each of the 50 painted Testudo sculptures located around the campus and throughout the state and Washington by Sunday for the university’s Fear the Turtle scavenger hunt.

The contest, sponsored by the university, WUSA-9 and WJZ-13, has been going on since Aug. 7. By mid-September, ten contestants had submitted photos with all 50, earning themselves a chance to win one of the 4-foot-tall fiberglass terrapins decorated by local artists from all over the region, said Cassandra Robinson, assistant director of university marketing and coordinator of the Fear the Turtle sculpture project. She is expecting many more as Sunday’s deadline approaches.

“I’m wondering how many people will get all 50,” West mused as he ascended the steps of the Phillips Hotel and Restaurant where “Taste the Tradition” looks seaward from a breezy resting place on the hotel porch. “This is really the only one that’s hard to get.” 

Amy McCready, reservations manager at the Phillips Hotel, said West isn’t the only one to come a long way to see “Taste the Tradition,” which features an instructional about eating Maryland crabs on its chest. “We get at least one or two a day who come just to see him,” said McCready. “People are always out there taking pictures.”  

“Taste the Tradition” is among the 16 sculptures purchased by their sponsors for an extra $7,500 fee over the $4,000 sponsorship cost before completion by the artists. Others ended up in locations like Union Station, Arundel Mills Mall and the Baltimore National Aquarium, but West said Ocean City required the farthest trip for him.

West began taking pictures after seeing one of the sculptures in front of Van Munching Hall. He and a friend printed out a list of sculpture locations from the contest website and crisscrossed the campus to get as many photos as possible. “Getting the pictures on campus was fun,” he said. “You get to spend the whole day outside walking around campus and taking pictures.” 

West’s standard photo usually includes him with an arm around Testudo, but some students have much more ambitious plans laid out for each photo.

Some students appear in poses that reflect the theme of each sculpture while others cram three or more people into every image.  

Erica Rabbin began taking pictures in late April, long before the scavenger hunt officially began. “I just thought it would be fun to get pictures with all 50 and make a scrapbook,” she said. “Now it has turned into something much bigger. I have to win this turtle.”  

Rabbin, a senior letters and sciences major, put together 50 unique outfits for the contest, some of which garnered quite a bit of attention when she was taking photos. For her picture with “Super Fan” outside Byrd Stadium, Rabbin dressed as Super Woman and accidentally stopped cars in the traffic circle when a university police officer pulled over to ask why she wasn’t wearing any pants. “It was really embarrassing,” she said. “Cars were stopped all around the circle because the officer had to ask about my costume.”

Rabbin had difficulty with other sculptures as well. “They moved the Warhol sculpture, and it has taken forever for me to get it,” she said. Other sculptures posed problems because of walls or obscure locations. “One day the gates were closed in the alumni garden, and my boyfriend and I had to jump the fence to take a picture.” 

Neither West nor Rabbin are sure of what will happen if they win the grand prize. Both students have considered donating the sculpture back to the university or another organization. “I would like to see them stay on campus,” said West, who also thought of giving the sculpture to his parents. “It would be a nice memento to take home after graduating.”  

Rabbin is trying to figure out how she can fit the terrapin in her apartment. “It might be hard to fit it through the door,” she said.

Contact reporter David Gill at newsdesk@dbk.umd.edu.