Arlington man reunited with high school trophy he won 50 years ago

ARLINGTON, Va. - It is a gift from the past that has arrived just in time for Christmas. A Virginia man was reunited with a keepsake from his high school glory years thanks to Facebook.

"It sat here on a shelf up until about two weeks ago," said Kelly Partlow, the owner of It's Bazaar on 21st Street, an antique shop in Purcellville.

Fifty years ago, a Wakefield High School student named Larry Funkhouser won a baseball trophy. But it was recently spotted in Partlow's shop located three counties away from the school.

"My vendor actually found it at an estate sale about three years ago," said Partlow.

She said a customer recently showed interest in finding the name on the plaque engraved back in 1966. In true 2016 style, he went to Facebook and posted a photo of the trophy on the "I grew up in Arlington" Facebook page and it created a buzz.

"Then the next thing you know, we are getting several phone calls with people wanting to purchase the trophy and finding Mr. Funkhouser," Partlow said.

After several people offered to pay the $48 to buy it in hopes of returning it to Funkhouser, Partlow decided to just put it aside and give it away for free if he were ever tracked down.

The Wakefield High School Education Foundation found photos of Funkhouser in their database. It turns out he still lives in Arlington. FOX 5 decided to make a special delivery to him just in time for Christmas.

It has been half a century since Funkhouser played baseball for Wakefield, but seeing the trophy made it seem like yesterday.

"It's basically for sportsmanship," he told us. "I was kind of in the running for Athlete of the Year, but John Hummer got that."

A forgotten baseball trophy collecting dust finally got its time to shine thanks to the kindness of strangers.

"I'm going to put this up somewhere where I can see it and keep it in my room," Funkhouser said. "It's very surprising everything that happened today."