Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the men and women who died while serving in the country’s armed forces. The holiday, which is celebrated every year on the last Monday of May, was formerly known as Decoration Day and originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the war. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service
I was able to personally thank a few soldiers today, and I wanted to extend the « THANK YOU » to those in The Ring Finders directory who have served.
I just added the Garrett AT Gold to the equipment list. I was looking for a machine that would perform really well on small gold items like diamond earrings and very small diamond pendants. The Minelab CTX 3030 manages well, but the prospecting (AT GOLD) hits these small items really well.
I purchased two small gold items from a local jewelry store for field testing and training purposes. The AT GOLD works amazingly well and should increase my recovery rate for these types of items.
Test Items
The New Garrett AT Gold
First test run with the AT Gold at a nearby park
The AT Gold picked out this small earring on its first test run along with some of the smallest specs of aluminum and other debris I have ever recovered.
My first impressions, the machine is awesome, and it has already proven itself capable of finding micro specs of Au, Ag, and Pt.
Au: Gold
Ag: Silver
Pt: Platinum
The Ring Finders Metal Detecting Service
We can search virtually any location, some of the most common places are parks, lakes, beaches and even your own front yard…If you lost your « Ring » or other precious item…We can find it!
We train regularly and use the best Metal Detecting Equipment available insuring the greatest possibility of finding your lost possessions.
I’m starting to believe that » THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES »
Last week I found a nice wedding band set while searching for another lost ring. I had a call from a lady who had lost a ring 5/5/14 at Aliso Beach, CA. It seems she was putting on sun screen and had taken off her ring forgetting to put it on after applying the lotion. Six days had passed with beach cleaning machines and other detectorists, but I wanted to give it a try. When I arrived at the beach there were still a lot of people on the beach. I started messing around back away from the search area to use up some time till I could start my grid search. I did a two hour two way grid search for the ring lost last week with no success.
While working my way up to the beach front a lifeguard came up to me telling me about another lady that had lost her ring. I walked about 50 yards. When I got close Landan and her mother-in-law, Julie came up to me with surprised looks on their faces. They were at their wits end and couldn’t believe that some guy with a metal detector had just showed up out of no ware. They had gone home and tried to locate a someone that could help them find the lost ring with no luck. It was Sunday and they could not get anyone to answer their calls. They returned to the beach to resume running their fingers through the sand. Ladan told me that she had been playing in the sand with her daughter about noon when she noticed she had lost her ring. I confidently told her it should be an easy search, but then she told me that she had made several trips to the water to fill a bucket with wet sand. That could be a major problem, but I tried to stay positive. People were all over the area and they all seemed to know about Ladan’s dilemma. I was able to find the larger ring within a few minutes. Nobody noticed that I retrieved the big ring in my sand scoop, so I set my detector down, walked over and presented it to Ladan. The tears of joy flowed. It was a special moment for her and everyone around the area. Then she said you’ve found the big one. I realized that she had lost the wedding band also. In the excitement they forgot or I didn’t hear that there was two rings lost. It was a matter of a few more swings of my search coil and within 4 feet of the first ring. A very special Mother’s Day for Ladan to remember. One of the ladies on the beach came over to me after things settled down saying that she had been praying for the last two hours that Ladan would find her rings. I’m going to add a personal email that Julie ( relative of Ladan) sent me.
Email from Julie: GRATEFUL
May 11,2014
Dear Stan, you were our « Dragon Slayer » today. My daughter-in-law felt completely helpless until you appeared with your twinkling blue eyes and confident attitude! And then in a matter of minutes you found her rings and released her from her pain. Now, her pain was not about losing valuable objects. It was about her husband and the love the rings represent, HIS LOVE FOR HER! She wanted to find them more for him than for herself. It was an amazing Mother’s Day gift for me to discover Ladan’s sense of determination and depth of character. I have a wonderful new story to tell about what really matters in life. A true Mother’s Day gift. Thank You! I’ll never forget you……Julie
I was on another ring recovery 58 miles from Laguna Beach when I got a call from a Concierge at the Montage resort. The Concierge at the desk passed the phone off to Joann and I told her I could be there before dark. I was able to get there before the sunset. Joann and her husband were waiting on the beach in front of where the ring was dropped. I made a few swings with my detector and scooped a nice wedding ring. I let Joann pick it from my scoop, then she said this is not my ring. I put it in my pocket then swung the detector a couple more times. The next signal was Joann and Federico’s wedding band. They were elated to have this most important symbol of their marriage back where it belongs. I reported to the hotel’s security that I had found another ring that I’d like to return to the rightful owner. I am also posting it on Craig’s List Lost and Found.. As of this date it has not been claimed. Below is Federico and Joann’s story.
OUR STORY;
My husband, Federico Blanco and I met on October 7, 2007. We became boyfriend/girlfriend on March 15, 2008 and got engaged four years later on the same day we met, October 7, 2011. Eight months later we got married on June 10, 2012 and have had a happy and fulfilling relationship.
This was the first time I had ever lost my wedding band. I had asked Federico to hold my rings while I put sunblock on our 8 year-old daughter, Sarah and he forgot he was holding onto my rings (Wedding ring and band). When he stood up he realized the wedding band was gone but managed to hold onto the most expensive ring, the wedding ring! We searched the sand for about 15 minutes before it occurred to me to call someone who had a metal detector. I went to the Montage to ask the concierge who was named Calvin Randle if he knew any staff members who might have a metal detector but no one had one. I asked him to look online if any nearby stores sold one and in the search Stan Ross came up. We decided to give you a call and within seconds you answered and said you would be there within an hour. You showed up 90 minutes later and found my wedding band within 5 minutes or less of looking for it. Thank you again and we hope to see our story on your blog soon.
Lost Gold in Austin, Texas (The Ring Finders Challenge) (www.theringfinders.com/greg.delong)
I was wanting to get to know member Greg DeLong a little better and was planning on trying to meet up with him on my trip to Austin, Greg lives in one of my favorite local destinations and having a friend in those parts could only make things better.
Austin has clean and clear lakes, rivers and creeks, something we don’t get down her in the bayou city, so when we want to beat the Texas heat we often head up to Austin.
I didn’t get the opportunity to meet Greg on my last trip, but I left a couple of items behind at a local park for Greg to track down. This was not going be as good as having a beer and over looking some area of Austin, but I thought it might still be a fun way to get to know Greg,
After returning home from Austin, I sent Greg an e-mail telling him I had buried some gold in Austin, and if he was able to find it, he could claim the treasure as his own. I told him I would also be responsible for our lunch on my next trip if he was successful.
I provided Greg GPS coordinates, and told him his detective skills and his metal detecting experience would be necessary for the recovery on this job. I told Greg he would be searching for a Gold Challenge Coin, 7 gold coins, and lunch if he was successful.
Greg apparently did his homework on the GPS coordinates, and e-mailed me back stating I planted the treasure-loot in an Austin park that prohibits metal detecting. Turns out all Austin parks prohibit metal detecting without an official permit issued by the Austin Park’s Department.
Told Greg, WOW looks like you will be buying lunch the next time I am in Austin. (the challenge) LOL
I asked Greg if he was going to let little things like jail stand in the way of his challenge. LOL, I thought it was funny, I think he thought I was trying to get him arrested.
Word today from Greg, I will be buying lunch on the next trip to Austin. Told Greg, his pictures better match the ones posted here if he was counting on lunch.
Received a call yesterday from Domingo who said he had lost his class ring 5 days ago while planting and transplanting plants in his backyard. Domingo said after spending several days searching for the ring with no success, he located « The Ring Finders » online.
I made the trip over to Domingo’s this morning, Domingo showed me his backyard and the possible areas where he thought the ring may have come off his finger. You can see from the pictures, Domingo was in the process of a backyard transformation with several areas needing to be searched.
Domingo mentioned something about coffee and went back into the house leaving me to conduct the search for his ring. I eliminated one of the flowers beds pretty quickly and moved on to the next flower bed near the center of the back yard. I was on about the forth swing in that flower bed when I hit a pretty good signal.
I knocked on Domingo’s back door and asked him to come on out back and show me the areas again needing to be searched. As Domingo was pointing out the areas again, I held out his class ring, Domingo was pleasantly surprised.
I often talk about my adventures as a Ring Finder with people at work. Like most people, they love hearing the stories of lost rings, both wedding rings and engagement rings, being found and returned to their owners. Every ring has a story and is so much more than just a piece of jewelry. One day, Jason stops over and tells me that a friend of his lost his ring in his backyard. He wanted to know if it was ok to give him my contact information. He also wanted to know what I charged. I explained that I ask for a small fee to cover gas and my time, and then a discretionary reward – whatever the person can afford and thinks is appropriate for the service we provide.
A couple of days had passed, and I hadn’t heard anything from Jason’s friend. I asked if he had found the lost ring. Jason said he had not, and would remind him to give me a call. Jason had heard all of my stories and knew that we could probably find the ring pretty easy. His friend Ryan was playing football with his kids in his backyard in Fitchburg. On one throw, he actually felt and saw his wedding ring fly off and land on the ground. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to find it. In my experience, what typically happens when someone begins to look for their lost ring, is that they inadvertently step on it – pushing it into the ground. No matter how hard you look with your eyes, you’ll never find it.
Another week passed, and I again asked Jason if Ryan had found his ring. He said that he had not, and this time just sent Ryan a text message and included me on it. I responded directly to Ryan that we could come out that night and take a look. He responded almost immediately and we agreed on a time to head over after work. As I typically do, I brought my kids along who love metal detecting and ring hunting. I talked with Ryan before beginning the hunt. He explained how he had lost the ring and that he was determined to find it himself. He had told his kids that if they found his ring, they could have ice cream as a reward. Funny, right? He also had thoughts of renting a metal detector, but wasn’t sure he would know how to operate it. I explained that he made a good decision to not rent a metal detector. I’ve heard countless stories of people renting a metal detector and getting excited the first time it goes off. However, a typical home owner would be shocked how much junk is hidden under your yard.
I will never forget this hunt, because it was, and still currently stands, as our fastest recovery to date. Ryan pointed to the area that he was standing when he threw the football, and literally within 3 mins we had a signal. We could not see the ring with our eyes, and had to use a small shovel to pry up the ground … out popped Ryan’s ring. He was in disbelief, as was his wife … Ryan said, « You’ve got to be kidding me » probably 4-5 times. It took longer to take our picture and post it to Facebook than it took for us to find his lost ring!
Remember, don’t rent a metal detector, rent a Ring Finder!
I received a call yesterday from Eric a resident of Bellaire, Texas regarding his lost wedding ring. Eric reported he had lost his wedding ring in his backyard while playing water volleyball in his new pool. Eric said he remembered hitting a volleyball and his ring flying off his finger. Eric reported he searched his yard for several days trying to find his ring. Eric said after unsuccessfully finding his ring he located « The Ring Finders » on a Google a search.
I made the trip out to Eric’s home this morning and was given a walk through of how and where the ring was lost. The backyard was under renovations, a beautiful new pool, landscaping steps, and new and old landscaping underway. The backyard had little grass, so the remaining search area was going to be several areas of monkey grass, small hedges and a few flower beds.
Having the 6″ coil for the CTX3030 was a big factor in this recovery. Most of my work was pushing the small coil through the small tight hedges to work the ground below and around the hedges. It would have been nearly impossible to have accomplished this task with the stock 11′ coil.
I worked an area of the yard that seemed most probable for Eric’s ring to have landed based on the information of how it was lost. This area was relatively heavy with scrubs and money grass providing a great hiding place for a missing ring.. I thought for sure it would be the spot. After spending sometime working the hedges and monkey grass in this area with no results, I moved to the far side of the yard.
I started in on one of the flower beds, pushing the coil through the hedges blindly when I got a nice signal. I worked through the ground cover vegetation with a pin pointer and uncovered a series of intertwined gold loops. I ‘ll be honest, I initially thought maybe I had found an earring , I was thinking to myself what the heck is it. I knew it was gold, but did not register as a gold wedding band.
I hollered over to Eric who was working in the yard, and held out the dangling loops of gold, I saw a smile on his face, and rest is now history.
Eric explained that the odd configuration (the gold loops) was a Gold Arabic Puzzle Ring, and it had belonged to his grandfather original, passed to his father, and now to him. Thought to myself (priceless) and awesome, that is something you could never replace.
I have picked up a lot of rings, but this was my first ever puzzle ring and what a cool story. It didn’t take long to figure out why they call it a puzzle ring.
The video is a quick clip of Eric putting his ring back together.
Contacted by Gene a resident of Fulshear, Texas who advised he was searching the internet for metal detector rentals and came across « The Ring Finders » website. Gene wanted to know if I could assist him finding a metal property marker at his resident. Gene said he had a copy of the original land plot showing the location of the markers. The property plot was a nice reference but lacked any measurement to aid in locating the markers. Some how I am thinking it’s drawn like that intentionally. Gene said if we couldn’t find the marker, he was going to have to hire a surveyor to re-plot the property lines and it was going to be very expensive.
Made the trip out this morning and hit the property marker pretty quick, excavated, and tagged it for the homeowner.
Galveston is one of the most popular year-round coastal destinations in our second largest state TEXAS. It is an island in the Gulf of Mexico. You can still take a road trip here because it is connected to the mainland by a bridge. It is a city that offers many historical and cultural attractions, water sports, and great hotels and resorts. Galveston TX has most of its businesses downtown, but also offers many rental residences with access to the Galveston beaches.
