Uncategorized Category | Page 387 of 584 | The Ring Finders

On this cold and dreary day, Gregg Larabel, my fellow ringfinder and I went looking for the ring Ryan lost while he was mowing his lawn on his riding lawn mower.  Like all of West Michigan this time of year, Ryan’s fairly large front yard was covered with leaves–and the front yard is where Ryan thought he probably lost his ring.  We started hunting right away and found a few coins, then, after about an hour of hunting, I got a good signal and parted the leaves to see his ring lying right on top of the ground near a tree.  I stuck a stick in the ground to mark it, and left it where it was.

Ryan was not home from work yet, so we raked up a few leaves from his driveway while waiting and worked on how we were going to surprise him with the ring.  As he arrived home with the two kids in tow we told him we did not have much luck, and showed him the coins we had found.  We gave him our story that there must be some kind of buried pipe under the lawn over by that tree.  I gave him my pin-pointer and told him to check that area near the stick I had stuck in the ground.  It took him a couple of seconds to move some leaves and see his ring for the big surprise.  His reaction made our day!

A one-acre house lot developed in 1929 has evolved into a park-like setting sprawling with mature trees, ornamental bushes and perennials of every description, not to mention its thick, well-established lawns. This was the scene where Beloit resident and property owner, John Clark, lost his custom-made wedding ring on October 25th while mowing and cleaning up freshly fallen leaves. He knew the ring was on his hand that morning but when he removed his work gloves at the end of the day, his ring finger was empty of its cherished love token. But where to begin looking?

I received a phone call from John the next evening. His son, Eric, who was visiting from Colorado, found The Ring Finder’s Directory online along with my contact information. After questioning John about his activities on the day of the loss, it was clear the ring had to be somewhere on the one-acre estate. Anyone who has embarked on such a search will understand the magnitude and challenge of locating a postage-sized piece of metal in such conditions. A needle-in-the-haystack metaphor seemed an appropriate description.

My wife and I arranged to meet John the next day. It was gorgeous. John met us at the door and introduced us to Kay, his lovely wife of 54 years. Kay showed us the ring on her finger which matched John’s. Mountains were carved into the ring’s circumference with three suns rising between their peaks, each representing one of their three children.

John retraced his activities as we walked around the property, stopping to remark on places he had stopped his lawn tractor or gathered up leaves and fallen branches. He had woken up in the night remembering how he had thrown some branches over a steep, leaf-covered embankment. I set to work sweeping these strategic areas with my XP Deus detector coupled with a High-Frequency elliptical coil. Ninety-years of human occupancy and numerous roof replacements impregnated the ground with nails and metallic debris, making it necessary to fine tune my equipment often.

After two hours of searching, the ring came to light in among the foliage where it had come to rest. I didn’t let on to John right away that I had found his ring. Instead, I made pretense of stopping for coffee and of moving to the next search area. It’s my sinister nature to create a memorable reveal. But I didn’t wait long—John was in enough agony.

Holding out my palm with the ring nestled in it, I stated in a matter of fact way that his ring couldn’t be in the lawn area because it was in my hand! Hugs ensued. Time to celebrate! And John’s smile tells the rest of the story.

Three years ago I met Phil and Carolyn O. at a college bowling tournament. Their son, Justin, bowls with my grandson, Chase B., for Robert Morris University. They also have a daughter LeAnn who attends the tournaments with them. We frequently talk about my ring finds during the bowling season and it makes for good conversation. A few months ago LeAnn asked if I could find a key to her condo that she lost while on a 6 mile walk around the Spring Lake, MI area. Needless to say we could not find her $2 key but while on the 6 mile walk she mentioned a ring that she had lost 10 years ago. This is where the story picks up. When LeAnn was born her dad gave her mom the gold ring with LeAnn’s birthstone and small diamond, at age 16 her mom passed it off to her. When she was 18 and at her friends cottage, at Matteson Lake, she fell off the end of the dock and her ring fell off. Now ten years later my Ring Finder partner, Dave Boyer, and I went out to the cottage. The water bottom was very muddy but after about 10 minutes the ring was recovered in about 10″ of black mud. The picture below shows how it was blackened and bent but after I took it to my jeweler, he cleaned it up to look like new.  LeAnn wanted to show her appreciation and gave me my own ring, A Ring Pop!