found on Muskegon River
- L to R Anthony Tundo (owner of ring), John Griffith (cousin), Don McCleod White Birch owner
While at work Tuesday July 26, I got a call from Anthony Tundo. He lost his ring while canoeing on the Muskegon River near Houghton Lake. During a bachelor party on the river they got out of the canoes to play some catch with a football and take a rest during the 4 hour trip. When Anthony caught the football he felt his Tungston/Carbide wedding band come off and fall into the river. Although it was shallow in that area and sandy bottom there search was in vain. Anthony’s cousin, John, a former Army soldier had his GPS and quickly got the coordinates.
During the call from Anthony he had given me the coordinates (which I looked up on Google Earth) and found that it would take a canoe trip just to reach the site so we set it up for the next day.
Anthony and his cousin John drove over 200 miles from St Clare, to the White Birch campgrounds and I drove 135 miles from Grand Rapids. Don McCleod, the owner of White Birch, let us use his van and a canoe to go up river. John dropped us off and was going to meet us down river in about an hour and a half. Anthony had the GPS which he wasn’t real familiar with so was given a crash course and we set out on the river. Paddling down the winding river at 5PM nothing looked familiar and Anthony kept losing the GPS signal. We are in the boonies and after an hour we came upon John waiting for us. So the three of us jumped back in the canoe and headed up the river against the current. After one hour we located the site. I located the ring with about five swipes of the CZ21 and found the ring. It was now 7:45PM and I kept thinking of what Don had told us « don’t get caught on the river after dark, you’ll never find your way back ». So we headed back down the river finally reaching our destination at 8:45PM and back to the campground at 9PM.
Van and Canoe = $20.00
Four hours paddling the canoe = Backbreaking
Swating flies and mosquitoes = Useless
Finding the ring in 3 minutes = Priceless
I want to thank Don McCleod for trusting 2 guys from Detroit area and 1 guy from Grand Rapids with his Van and a canoe. It makes you feel good that there are people like Don still around.
