frogsmile
Jr. Member
I just thought some of you treasure hunters out there might like to read this article about one of the class rings I returned. Article title, Class act got his ring back. http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid=2006607030313
Class act got his ring back
Treasure hunter came up with a rare find
By JILL FICK
News-Messenger correspondent
A class ring recently brought Frank Hoffman and Margaret Colvin together, but the two aren't going steady. Not even close.
About 56 years ago, Hoffman gave his Clyde High School ring to his girlfriend, Helen, and then went off to the Korean War. A year ago, Curtice resident Colvin found the ring and returned it to Hoffman, who now lives in Fremont.
Where was the ring in the meantime? That's where the story gets interesting.
Helen, now Mrs. Frank Hoffman, said back in 1950, she had wrapped tape around the ring to make it smaller so that she could wear it on her finger.
"I was chaperoning a bunch of my sister's friends at the beach," she said. "And I lost it there. (I thought) when you lose something in the lake, it's gone."
Frank said he didn't recall his reaction but he knew there wasn't much he could do about it from the other side of the world.
The two married and have lived happily ever after, with little thought of the lost ring. Fast forward more than five decades.
Colvin, whose hobby is metal detecting, is up to her waist in Lake Erie, searching for buried treasure. Among the rings she finds that day is a man's 1947 Clyde High School ring.
She goes to Birchard Library only to discover they had no Clyde yearbooks. Employees there suggest she go to the Clyde Library. While that location had no books either, it did archive complete lists of the high school's graduating classes.
The only name whose initials matched those on the ring was Francis Hoffman. Her next step was to comb local phone books, but no such name was listed. She'd have to start calling all the Hoffmans in the book and see if she could find someone who knew Francis.
Before she could do that, she has an appointment with Fremont chiropractor Dr. Paul Silcox. He had also done some metal detecting and she always shared her finds with him during her visits. When she shows him the Francis Hoffman ring, Silcox tells her that he was a patient and he could help.
"He was meant to get this ring back," Colvin said.
With Hoffman's Tiffin Road address in hand, Colvin heads out to Ballville Township. But she misreads the address and can't find the house. So, she stops at a house where a man was out mowing the yard and asks for help. That man ends up being Francis "Frank" Hoffman.
"I was flabbergasted," he said.
"It looked just like it did the day it was lost," his wife added.
That's typical, according to Colvin.
"Gold doesn't change," she said. "That's how you know that it's gold."
Colvin has been metal detecting for many years but the past six years or so, she has focused more on searches in the water.
"It can be very trying on the body at times," she explained. "I really enjoy the water because of the buoyancy. It's easier on the joints."
A boilermaker by trade, working at nuclear power plants and the like, Colvin uses the hobby as a relaxation tool. And, she likes the hunt.
"I've liked digging for buried treasure since I was a little kid," she said.
Her first metal detector was a Christmas gift from her father. It was much heavier than any of the three machines she owns today.
Most of her hunting is done in the waters of Lake Erie. She searches in "cuts," or the deep water between sand bars where the water pulls the sand away. Objects settle on the hard-packed floor of these cuts.
Decked out in a wetsuit, gloves, booties and a 30-pound weight belt, Colvin uses metal detectors that can hit on objects buried up to two feet deep. Everything she finds, including junk, goes into a bag hung around her neck. Nothing goes back into the water.
"I'm cleaning up the lake, too," she said. "I fill up one to two lawn leaf bags with stuff I take out every year."
And it's a variety of "stuff" that she recovers -- pocket knives, coins, barrettes, bobby pins, keys, earrings, horseshoes, arrowheads, sinkers, fish hooks, BBs, anchors, shell casings, forks, and lots and lots of rings.
"There are so many people who have lost their rings out there," Colvin said.
If there is any way of identifying the owner, Colvin does her best private eye impression. The Internet is an invaluable resource.
"It really makes you feel good when you're able to give things like that back to people," she said.
Colvin makes good use of those rings without names or initials.
"If I want some new jewelry, I go out to the lake and find it," she laughed. "That's my jewelry store."
She also has a booth at the Five and Dime, an antique store in downtown Elmore. There shoppers can find all sorts of little treasures from jewelry to Tootsie Toys (a pre-Hot Wheels toy) to premium rings like the Lone Ranger and Captain Midnight.
"I usually don't sell lots of things," she said. "I end up giving the stuff away. They make good presents."
But the hunt is the most exhilarating part.
"The thrill is finding it," Colvin said. "You never know when you pull up that scoop what you're going to find. When that gold sparkles in the sunlight, it's a rush."
Someday, Colvin would like to try her hand at digging for gold in California or searching for treasures along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. But for now, Lake Erie is keeping her busy as is helping people like the Hoffmans tie up some loose ends.
Colvin's just happy all was not lost with that ring.
"He must not have been too mad," she said of Frank. "He married her."
Originally published July 3, 2006
Class act got his ring back
Treasure hunter came up with a rare find
By JILL FICK
News-Messenger correspondent
A class ring recently brought Frank Hoffman and Margaret Colvin together, but the two aren't going steady. Not even close.
About 56 years ago, Hoffman gave his Clyde High School ring to his girlfriend, Helen, and then went off to the Korean War. A year ago, Curtice resident Colvin found the ring and returned it to Hoffman, who now lives in Fremont.
Where was the ring in the meantime? That's where the story gets interesting.
Helen, now Mrs. Frank Hoffman, said back in 1950, she had wrapped tape around the ring to make it smaller so that she could wear it on her finger.
"I was chaperoning a bunch of my sister's friends at the beach," she said. "And I lost it there. (I thought) when you lose something in the lake, it's gone."
Frank said he didn't recall his reaction but he knew there wasn't much he could do about it from the other side of the world.
The two married and have lived happily ever after, with little thought of the lost ring. Fast forward more than five decades.
Colvin, whose hobby is metal detecting, is up to her waist in Lake Erie, searching for buried treasure. Among the rings she finds that day is a man's 1947 Clyde High School ring.
She goes to Birchard Library only to discover they had no Clyde yearbooks. Employees there suggest she go to the Clyde Library. While that location had no books either, it did archive complete lists of the high school's graduating classes.
The only name whose initials matched those on the ring was Francis Hoffman. Her next step was to comb local phone books, but no such name was listed. She'd have to start calling all the Hoffmans in the book and see if she could find someone who knew Francis.
Before she could do that, she has an appointment with Fremont chiropractor Dr. Paul Silcox. He had also done some metal detecting and she always shared her finds with him during her visits. When she shows him the Francis Hoffman ring, Silcox tells her that he was a patient and he could help.
"He was meant to get this ring back," Colvin said.
With Hoffman's Tiffin Road address in hand, Colvin heads out to Ballville Township. But she misreads the address and can't find the house. So, she stops at a house where a man was out mowing the yard and asks for help. That man ends up being Francis "Frank" Hoffman.
"I was flabbergasted," he said.
"It looked just like it did the day it was lost," his wife added.
That's typical, according to Colvin.
"Gold doesn't change," she said. "That's how you know that it's gold."
Colvin has been metal detecting for many years but the past six years or so, she has focused more on searches in the water.
"It can be very trying on the body at times," she explained. "I really enjoy the water because of the buoyancy. It's easier on the joints."
A boilermaker by trade, working at nuclear power plants and the like, Colvin uses the hobby as a relaxation tool. And, she likes the hunt.
"I've liked digging for buried treasure since I was a little kid," she said.
Her first metal detector was a Christmas gift from her father. It was much heavier than any of the three machines she owns today.
Most of her hunting is done in the waters of Lake Erie. She searches in "cuts," or the deep water between sand bars where the water pulls the sand away. Objects settle on the hard-packed floor of these cuts.
Decked out in a wetsuit, gloves, booties and a 30-pound weight belt, Colvin uses metal detectors that can hit on objects buried up to two feet deep. Everything she finds, including junk, goes into a bag hung around her neck. Nothing goes back into the water.
"I'm cleaning up the lake, too," she said. "I fill up one to two lawn leaf bags with stuff I take out every year."
And it's a variety of "stuff" that she recovers -- pocket knives, coins, barrettes, bobby pins, keys, earrings, horseshoes, arrowheads, sinkers, fish hooks, BBs, anchors, shell casings, forks, and lots and lots of rings.
"There are so many people who have lost their rings out there," Colvin said.
If there is any way of identifying the owner, Colvin does her best private eye impression. The Internet is an invaluable resource.
"It really makes you feel good when you're able to give things like that back to people," she said.
Colvin makes good use of those rings without names or initials.
"If I want some new jewelry, I go out to the lake and find it," she laughed. "That's my jewelry store."
She also has a booth at the Five and Dime, an antique store in downtown Elmore. There shoppers can find all sorts of little treasures from jewelry to Tootsie Toys (a pre-Hot Wheels toy) to premium rings like the Lone Ranger and Captain Midnight.
"I usually don't sell lots of things," she said. "I end up giving the stuff away. They make good presents."
But the hunt is the most exhilarating part.
"The thrill is finding it," Colvin said. "You never know when you pull up that scoop what you're going to find. When that gold sparkles in the sunlight, it's a rush."
Someday, Colvin would like to try her hand at digging for gold in California or searching for treasures along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. But for now, Lake Erie is keeping her busy as is helping people like the Hoffmans tie up some loose ends.
Colvin's just happy all was not lost with that ring.
"He must not have been too mad," she said of Frank. "He married her."
Originally published July 3, 2006
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