A Friend in Need

Lake Geneva, WI, once dubbed the Newport (RI) of the West in the late 19th century, has a rich history and many charming features, drawing both tourists and residents.  Some come for the shopping, the restaurants, and the small-town atmosphere.  Others come for work or strong schools.  It’s no surprise the lake itself, Geneva Lake, is the main attraction, the magnet, the reason people come to the area.

And surrounding this beautiful lake is a 21+ mile lake path that the public has enjoyed for hundreds of years.  It began as a simple footpath for Native Americans to travel and hunt between villages.  In the 1870s, it evolved into a workman and estate trail before finally becoming a legal right-of-way in the late 19th century.  It was during this final stage, in 1894, that a piece of land was donated to the city of Lake Geneva to build a park and library.

And this is where my story begins.

On August 25th, 2026, Susan left me a voicemail.  “I’m calling in regards to hopefully you helping to find a piece of lost jewelry near the shoreline at one of the spots in Lake Geneva.”  After talking with Susan, I learned that a friend of theirs had lost a special ring in the lake, near the front of Library Park.  This historic lakepath is now a concrete sidewalk with open views of the water and benches for sitting and enjoying the space.

In front of one of these benches, somewhere in the shallow water, sat a ring for nearly a month.  The ring was accidentally thrown into the water by a friend.  I met with Susan and Randy to see what I could do.  They contacted me on behalf of a friend, hoping I could find it with my metal detector.  Could I find it?

It was a cool morning, around 6:30 am, when we met.  I listened to their story, and as I got in the water, Randy pointed me in the right direction.  The seaweed was thick in this shallow area, and there were many rocky sections that could easily hide a ring.  I searched in a grid pattern for nearly an hour and found only trash and a few coins.  At this point, I was getting quite cold, and my pouch was full of heavy trash.  I decided to take a break, dump all the trash from my pouch, and rethink the search.  Although I wore my full-length wetsuit, Randy saw I was chilled and offered to get me a coffee.  I brushed it off, not wanting to impose on him, but his kindness insisted, and off he went.

In the meantime, I sat on the bench with Susan, talking about the situation and how it was thrown into the water… and then I had an idea.  

I got up and picked up three small stones, felt their weight, and guessed they might be close to the weight of a ring.  The ring was thrown from a seated position on the bench.

  I handed Susan a stone and said, “Throw it.  Throw it like you remember it was thrown.”  She did, and the stone didn’t even make it to the water.  It clattered on the stones along the shore.  

“Try again,” I added.  “Really give it a throw!”  She obliged, and this time it just barely plinked into the edge of the lake.  

“I think I’m searching too far out, Susan,” I said.  “The stones you threw are nowhere close to where I was looking.”  She agreed.

Randy arrived with the hot coffee, and what a blessing it was!  It wasn’t long before I was warm and eager to start the search again.

But before getting into the water, I gathered three more stones and ran Randy through the same stone-throwing test… and had similar results.  Each stone landed just beyond the shoreline.

I donned my gear and stepped back into the water, searching in barely ankle-deep water, listening and scanning with my eyes.

Moments later, I saw it, the ring, clearly resting between two fist-sized stones.  I questioned my eyes, as it had been nearly a month in the water, and ran my detector over it.  Beeeeep!  I reached in and plucked it from the bottom.  The search was a success!  

Randy and Susan were elated!  They were able to return this precious piece of jewelry, which has so many irreplaceable memories connected to it, to their friend.

If you or someone you know has lost a phone, ring, or other jewelry item, please call.  The smiles I enjoy when returning lost items are one of the best parts of what I do.