WaterWalker
Hero Member
- Jan 31, 2007
- 525
- 675
- Detector(s) used
- Garrett (Infinium, ATPro, ATX), Minelab Excalibur, Tesoro Conquistador, Whites (Surfmaster PI, Quantum), JW Fisher 8X, DetectorPro Underwater 8", Minelab Equinox 800, Manticore, Pro-Find 35
- Primary Interest:
- Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I have to say this will never happen again at least to me unless I win the lotto, get hit by lightning, and get stung by a swarm of killer bees all on the same day!
This metal detecting story starts with a detecting friend showing me there is more than the usual place to search for gold on a beach. Searching with my Garrett Infinium in this new environment back on a cold day in March 2012 I was rewarded with not one but two class rings. At home I added them to the carabineer of rings I had been trying to return without much success. Well I have not been the most punctual detectorist when it comes to doing return research but a year and a half later I had reduced the number of rings on the carabineer to four.
October 30th was a cold rainy day and my Honey-Do list was at a point when I decided to give the remaining four rings a chance to get back to their owner. School phone numbers were dialed and the appropriate school personnel were contacted. They were given the information on their schools ring and asked to either have the person contact me or at least let me know of their search results. I sat back in my easy chair and with a cup of coffee in hand I hoped to receive phone calls with the information I was searching for.
November 3rd the first return call came from Gail. Gail told me of how, back in 1975, she was in the waters of Dennis, Massachusetts enjoying the clear cool water when she lost her class ring. Her excitement in telling the story was heartwarming. Then a bombshell hit; her story went on of how her ring was not the only one she had lost at the same time. Gail told me of how her boyfriends 1974 class ring also slipped away to join her class ring. I asked if the other ring was also a West Springfield ring. The answer came back with no, it was Chicopee Comprehensive and at that point I stopped her and asked if her boyfriends initials were MJC. The answer was Marty Costello MC, but I am not sure about his middle name.
At that point I had to tell Gail I had that ring in my hand also. Disbelief on both of our parts was verbalized for several minutes. Gail first said she was a bit anxious about contacting Marty after so many years. She did know her brother, Gary, was in contact Marty and she would ask Gary to contact Marty which he did.
It turned out Martys middle initial is T not J. But what do I know about the fancy letters or script fonts used in the engraving of rings. Heaven knows I have been wrong more than once, even with the aid of a jeweler. Another look at the initials made me a believer I was wrong again and the engraved initial was a T. The ring was Martys. He verified it after seeing a mark on the ring that he had made while doing body work on a car.
Here I was holding two class rings, from different schools and years, found within minutes of each other and now talking with the person who had lost them38 years ago. What was next?
Both Gail and Marty agreed to get together and make a trip to Cape Cod to retrieve their rings and meet the person who found them. As I was going to the Springfield area the next Sunday I suggested that I make the trip a day early and meet them on Saturday to return the rings. That was it! A party was onI have never experienced such a ring return. The adult families members, the children, the reporters and the story from each perspective made for four hours of memorable emotions I will never forget. I thank everyone for their part in this Ring Return.
Here are two links for newspaper and TV coverage:
Class Rings Returned after 38 Years
http://play.syndi.tv/v1/player.html...f_id=10994&width=500&height=400&va_id=4736134
This metal detecting story starts with a detecting friend showing me there is more than the usual place to search for gold on a beach. Searching with my Garrett Infinium in this new environment back on a cold day in March 2012 I was rewarded with not one but two class rings. At home I added them to the carabineer of rings I had been trying to return without much success. Well I have not been the most punctual detectorist when it comes to doing return research but a year and a half later I had reduced the number of rings on the carabineer to four.
October 30th was a cold rainy day and my Honey-Do list was at a point when I decided to give the remaining four rings a chance to get back to their owner. School phone numbers were dialed and the appropriate school personnel were contacted. They were given the information on their schools ring and asked to either have the person contact me or at least let me know of their search results. I sat back in my easy chair and with a cup of coffee in hand I hoped to receive phone calls with the information I was searching for.
November 3rd the first return call came from Gail. Gail told me of how, back in 1975, she was in the waters of Dennis, Massachusetts enjoying the clear cool water when she lost her class ring. Her excitement in telling the story was heartwarming. Then a bombshell hit; her story went on of how her ring was not the only one she had lost at the same time. Gail told me of how her boyfriends 1974 class ring also slipped away to join her class ring. I asked if the other ring was also a West Springfield ring. The answer came back with no, it was Chicopee Comprehensive and at that point I stopped her and asked if her boyfriends initials were MJC. The answer was Marty Costello MC, but I am not sure about his middle name.
At that point I had to tell Gail I had that ring in my hand also. Disbelief on both of our parts was verbalized for several minutes. Gail first said she was a bit anxious about contacting Marty after so many years. She did know her brother, Gary, was in contact Marty and she would ask Gary to contact Marty which he did.
It turned out Martys middle initial is T not J. But what do I know about the fancy letters or script fonts used in the engraving of rings. Heaven knows I have been wrong more than once, even with the aid of a jeweler. Another look at the initials made me a believer I was wrong again and the engraved initial was a T. The ring was Martys. He verified it after seeing a mark on the ring that he had made while doing body work on a car.
Here I was holding two class rings, from different schools and years, found within minutes of each other and now talking with the person who had lost them38 years ago. What was next?
Both Gail and Marty agreed to get together and make a trip to Cape Cod to retrieve their rings and meet the person who found them. As I was going to the Springfield area the next Sunday I suggested that I make the trip a day early and meet them on Saturday to return the rings. That was it! A party was onI have never experienced such a ring return. The adult families members, the children, the reporters and the story from each perspective made for four hours of memorable emotions I will never forget. I thank everyone for their part in this Ring Return.
Here are two links for newspaper and TV coverage:
Class Rings Returned after 38 Years
http://play.syndi.tv/v1/player.html...f_id=10994&width=500&height=400&va_id=4736134
