Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 29, 1994 TAG: 9501060020
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The hills behind Alice Firebaugh's house in Roanoke County, that is.
Firebaugh's eyes lit up like a kid who had found the X on a treasure map as she recently told the story of her find.
The treasure - a 28-year-old high school class ring - shone through mud with its golden, stylized "N" as Firebaugh, 77, raked leaves. She has raked the area near the banks of Tinker Creek many times in the past 30-plus years, but she never had found anything like this before.
"I was having a big time raking, but I had a bigger time when I found the ring," Firebaugh said.
Firebaugh was made giddy with excitement by the N on the ring's stone, which looked very much like her first initial, A. After the excavation she cleaned the ring with Prell shampoo - `` ... it's good for taking spots out of clothes'' she explained as the ring gleamed in her hand.
Only then did the ring reveal its identity as a member of Northside High School's class of '67. Its owner's initials were etched inside: DRB.
"It was just as good as new," Firebaugh said. "They must have picked a good company [to make the rings]."
The quest to find the ring's owner took a relatively simple path with the help of Firebaugh's son, Tommy.
Tommy, who graduated from Northside in 1963, immediately looked for a boy in his yearbook whose initials and age matched those required by the ring. But, unfortunately, the boy was a latecomer to the area, moving to Roanoke from Illinois in 1965.
This first setback in the search for the ring's owner was the only one.
Tommy remembered a relative who had graduated in '67 and borrowed his annual. This led to the discovery of what he believed to be the ring owner's name: Daniel Ray Baldwin.
It had been 28 years since the rings were handed out to students the summer before their senior year; would the owner still live in the area?
A quick search of the Baldwin entries in the Roanoke phone book produced one Daniel R. entry. Tommy called and asked the voice at the other end of the line if he had graduated from Northside in 1967. ``Yes'' was the reply. Did he lose his class ring? Again, ``yes'', only Baldwin noted it was his sister who lost the ring.
Tommy told Baldwin his ring had been found "in mint condition."
Baldwin pretty much had forgotten that old ring, although its loss had irritated him at the time, he said.
Baldwin, Tommy and Alice Firebaugh met recently to reunite ring with ring owner.
"The question now is, does it still fit?" Baldwin wondered as he easily slipped the ring over the knuckles of his ring finger.
The real story of how the ring was lost slowly emerged as Baldwin explained that one of his sister's friends actually lost the ring.
"She wanted to make a guy jealous by letting him think she was dating a senior," Baldwin said.
Baldwin agreed to loan his ring to the girl for the hoax, with one condition: "I told her if she lost my ring, she would be in big trouble."
Sure enough, she returned the next day with the message that the ring was gone.
How it got behind Firebaugh's house is not too mysterious.
A cabin used to sit on the banks of Tinker Creek near Firebaugh's property. She had created benches and tables with stones, and kids too young to drive used the area as a hangout.
Baldwin said the girl was supposed to buy him a new ring, but never did. The ring cost about $75 in those days; a similar one today costs about $300.
"I suppose I should wear it for a while," Baldwin said.
Despite the nearly three-decade hibernation and its unusual reunion with Baldwin, the ring likely will meet its creator soon. Baldwin said he is considering taking the ring to a jeweler and melting it down to make a charm for his sister's 3-year-old daughter.
by CNB