High School Ring Found In Lake Winnipesaukee

[Senter Cove Guy]

I found a 1962 girl’s Beverly (Mass) High School (BHS) class ring in Lake Winnipesaukee during a summer somewhere between 1962 and 1965. I’ve held onto it all these years.

Sometime during the 1970’s, I called Beverly High School and gave them the 3 initials that were inscribed inside the ring and asked them if someone could look at the 1962 class yearbook and tell me who the ring might belong to. They were unwilling to do that because that would amount to providing personal information to an unknown person (me). I was OK with that. I thought about visiting Beverly, Mass one day to look at a yearbook but that never happened.

Last December I decided to initiate another search primarily because 2012 would be BHS class of 1962’s 50th reunion year and I thought it would be neat to get the ring back to the owner before the reunion.

Using the Internet, I located a BHS alumni website and was able to obtain a few email addresses for BHS 1962 alumni. I wrote to them and gave them the 3 initials. Within a few days we had the search down to a single person. BHS 1962 alumni did their best to track down “the person” without success. Their 50th reunion came and went without “the person” attending.

So, as a last resort, on September 30th, 2012, I emailed the editor of the Beverly Citizen newspaper and told her my story. I asked her if she would be willing to place something in her paper to try and find someone who might know “the person”.

SHE DID AND IT WORKED!!

On October 9, 2012, the editor called me with news that a reader had called her with a phone number for “the person” who now lives in Florida. I called “the person” and we chatted for about 20 minutes. She related that she had only had her ring for 2 weeks before she lost it while swimming in Lake Winnipesaukee. She gave me her address and I mailed the ring to her on October 11, 2012. Prior to mailing it, I took the ring to a local Connecticut jeweler who did a complimentary cleaning. The ring came out looking like new. She’s going to be a happy camper.

[upthesaukee]

Nice story, and I must say, we reap what we sow...I see a bumper crop in your future .

That was an awful lot of work, but the result will / has made someone very, very happy. Great job.

[8gv]

Great work G-bury guy!

Class of '75 here, Glastonbury, not Beverly.

Nearly thirty five years ago I lost my wedding ring on day two of my marriage. It was lost to the surf at VA Beach. When I came running back to the beach blanket to enlist the help of my new bride I yelled "You've got to help me find my ring!" She started looking around the blanket for it. When I pointed to the waves and told her where I had lost it she just rolled over and cried. Hell, I should have been the one crying; I had to buy another ring! And yes, we're still married.

[Merrymeeting]

As I've related on this forum before, my first wedding ring ended up on the bottom of Merrymeeting Lake while visiting my parents. We had only been married 6 months.

Twenty-eight years later, I can sit on my own dock and look out at where it is, or vaguely where it is.

Today is Anniversary #28!

[Cal]

Great story! No good deed goes unrewarded

[secondcurve]

Originally Posted by Senter Cove Guy

I found a 1962 girl’s Beverly (Mass) High School (BHS) class ring in Lake Winnipesaukee during a summer somewhere between 1962 and 1965. I’ve held onto it all these years.

Sometime during the 1970’s, I called Beverly High School and gave them the 3 initials that were inscribed inside the ring and asked them if someone could look at the 1962 class yearbook and tell me who the ring might belong to. They were unwilling to do that because that would amount to providing personal information to an unknown person (me). I was OK with that. I thought about visiting Beverly, Mass one day to look at a yearbook but that never happened.

Last December I decided to initiate another search primarily because 2012 would be BHS class of 1962’s 50th reunion year and I thought it would be neat to get the ring back to the owner before the reunion.

Using the Internet, I located a BHS alumni website and was able to obtain a few email addresses for BHS 1962 alumni. I wrote to them and gave them the 3 initials. Within a few days we had the search down to a single person. BHS 1962 alumni did their best to track down “the person” without success. Their 50th reunion came and went without “the person” attending.

So, as a last resort, on September 30th, 2012, I emailed the editor of the Beverly Citizen newspaper and told her my story. I asked her if she would be willing to place something in her paper to try and find someone who might know “the person”.

SHE DID AND IT WORKED!!

On October 9, 2012, the editor called me with news that a reader had called her with a phone number for “the person” who now lives in Florida. I called “the person” and we chatted for about 20 minutes. She related that she had only had her ring for 2 weeks before she lost it while swimming in Lake Winnipesaukee. She gave me her address and I mailed the ring to her on October 11, 2012. Prior to mailing it, I took the ring to a local Connecticut jeweler who did a complimentary cleaning. The ring came out looking like new. She’s going to be a happy camper.

Senter Cove Guy:

Were you diving when you found the ring way back then or snorkeling? Was the ring off a beach area? I'm curious about the circumstances surrounding the find.

[Senter Cove Guy]

Originally Posted by secondcurve

Senter Cove Guy:

Were you diving when you found the ring way back then or snorkeling? Was the ring off a beach area? I'm curious about the circumstances surrounding the find.

I was snorkeling in the swimming area of Lanes End Camp in Melvin Village. The water depth was less than 10 feet and the bottom was mostly rocky.

[GFP]

Senter Cove Guy,
That is quite a wonderful story. I love your persistence.

[Diver1111]

Outstanding! What a great ending after all these years. I returned a purse I found diving at the Alton docks to a woman who had had been robbed. I felt good too. You're the Man!

[XJLPS]

Great story , i have a simalar story. I worked at a junk yard in boston back in the 80s . I was walking to coffee break when i noticed a gold object stuck in the roadway dug it out and low and behold it was a class ring from MIT class of 60 something . I held onto it ended up in a change glass and eventually into a drawer . About 6 years ago i came across the ring and took the initials on line to MIT alum. I found the guys name and looked it up in phone book there was ten people with same name and started calling on the 3rd call i reached him . He thought it was a joke until i explained how i found it . It was about 20 years since he had seen it . We figure he either lost it in an old car or a washer and dryer that was junked .

[Senter Cove Guy]

Much to my surprise, I was contacted this morning by a digital reporter with Good Morning America. We did a phone interview and she posted this story at gma.yahoo.com

[Steveo]

Originally Posted by Senter Cove Guy

Much to my surprise, I was contacted this morning by a digital reporter with Good Morning America. We did a phone interview and she posted this story at gma.yahoo.com

Very cool Brad, nice job!!

[Grant]

Originally Posted by Senter Cove Guy

Much to my surprise, I was contacted this morning by a digital reporter with Good Morning America. We did a phone interview and she posted this story at gma.yahoo.com

It's gone viral. The ABC piece was picked up and tweeted by Scuba Diving Magazine this morning.

[ghfromaltonbay]

I posted this story back in 2008 and was reminded of it by this thread.

Your story reminded me of another great finding in Alton Bay. Someone asked 2 guys I know to dive for a lost brass boat lamp just north of Light #23 near Sandy Point. One of them found a men's wallet in the silty bottom and brought it back to shore. The wallet contained money, license, etc. for someone from Mass. and based on the license date it had been there for a few years. The diver called this gentleman who hung up on him. He called again, said it wasn't a hoax and mentioned that there was a half of a $1 bill in the wallet. This kept the man on the line who told the diver that he had lost the wallet out of his back pocket while sitting on the side of his friend's boat. Over the years many of his buddies made prank calls pretending that they had found the wallet and he thought this was another prankster. When he heard about the 1/2 $1 bill, he then knew my friend was not trying to pull his leg. He explained that he and his wife had cut a $1 bill and each carried a half. His wife passed away shortly after he lost his wallet and he still kept the half she had carried. Now he had his half back as well as the money that had been in the wallet. I seem to remember it was quite a large amount and since it had been in the water so long it had to be separated carefully with tweezers. The story of this discovery was carried on CNN and featured the young hero.

[SharkBaitDiving]

Great work Brad!! I carpool with someone from Beverly, MA and I just printed this forum for her.

[GTO]

I just read the story online as it was in the Union Leader

[Senter Cove Guy]

I apologize if you're tired of reading about this story but there is some new information. A Manchester Union Leader correspondent contacted me yesterday for a phone interview. An updated story appears on the front page of today's paper. A .PDF of the story is attached.

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by Senter Cove Guy

I apologize if you're tired of reading about this story but there is some new information. A Manchester Union Leader correspondent contacted me yesterday for a phone interview. An updated story appears on the front page of today's paper. A .PDF of the story is attached.

No Worries SCG.... it is a wonderful Story, you should be proud of yourself.... And quite honestly it is nice to see the press spending so much time on this story.... That reminds us all what really matters.

[ishoot308]

S.C.G.;

Your story is incredible and in my opinion is what this forum is all about. What better story than this for all lakes region residents to read about, one of their own doing a great deed like this! Your a good man SCG and you should be dam proud!!

Sure beats the hell out of the 6:00 o:clock news and finding out what Lindsay Lohan is up to!!

Nicely done S.C.G.!!

Dan

[glennsteely]

I think it is an awesome story and I am glad that you finally got it to an end after all your years of trying. You def reap what you sow, and kharma will pay you back I'm sure!! Great job!!

[John A. Birdsall]

A few years ago our next door neighbors daughter and her husband was up and she lost her diamond ring. Everybody was looking in the area where it went but no luck. I'm not sure just how but Dad went down to the dock with his flashlight and the light hit the diamond and she got her ring back. I don't think anybody could be as happy.

Good going for finding that ring and sending it back, even though they came from beverly

[tis]

It is strange how it happens that you find something in the lake sometimes that you never expect to see again. My sister lost her wedding ring and my father found it. She also lost an earring in the lake and found it in the sand. Who would believe it? Sometimes they get so buried you never see them again. She was just lucky.

[trish66]

I can't remember the year exactly, but it was the late fifties. I was ten or eleven, and a friend and I were waiting on the beach, with our bottoms just in the water at Lane's End, for our mandatory hour after eating to pass. We were both just digging with our hands as we talked. My friend, whose name is a lost precious memory, pulled a wedding ring up from the sand. I knew immediately who it belonged to. One of the campers in the grove with the last name of Lesley had lost it the year before. I think her first name was Barbara. The hug she gave me when I returned it still makes me blush.
The gentleman's story reminded me of this long forgotten memory, but the story he didn't tell, which is even more important to me, is the day he saved my life. The raft in the swimming area had broken away due to heavy wave action. A bunch of us went out to find the chains that had broken away, and we'd attempt to reattach them to the raft. I was a skinny runt, weighing fifty to sixty pounds. The chain was rusty and encrusted with God knows what. I grabbed one of the lower links and attempted to bring it up, but the weight of the chain was more than I could lift. My index finger was lodged in one of the links, and I could not free it. I can remember looking up calmly and seeing a bird fly by. To this day, the serenity I had in facing this dilemma amazes me. All of a sudden, a teenager much stronger than I bought this chain to the surface. His action brought this runt to the surface, also. I was then able to free my index finger from the link that had trapped it.
I was a teacher of fourth and sixth grades for forty-three years, and I often told this story to my students as an example of a heroic action where the hero is unaware of his accomplishment. I look at my three children and wonder what if... Brad Swain hadn't done what he did. Bob Driscoll