Why Did I Join Ring Finders?

Hello,

My name is Michael Enos and I grew up in south and central Florida.  I spent a lot of time at the beach when I was growing up here and I would occasionally see someone metal detecting.  I thought it looked like an interesting hobby since I was always fascinated with radio frequencies and signals, but I never pursued that particular hobby in my younger years.

So when did I take up metal detecting?  After I graduated from high school in Pinellas county, I joined the Air Force in 1979 where I travelled to many places and started a family which didn’t leave me much time for metal detecting.  However, in 2013, while living in the mid-west, I lost my wedding ring when I was working on a backyard project.  I didn’t even notice my ring was missing until I was washing my hands that evening and noticed it wasn’t on my finger.  In a panic, I began back tracking where I had worked that day in hopes of finding it, but to no avail.  I ended up searching for the ring for several days, but it was fruitless.  As a last resort, I decided to buy my first cheap metal detector to see if it would help me find my lost ring.   I began searching my backyard first where I suspected I had lost it and within an hour I heard a beep!  I reached down where the signal was the strongest, moved the dirt around a little and there was a shiny gold ring staring back at me.  I picked the ring up and put it back on my figure looking at it in disbelief.  Needless to say, I was both excited and relived that I had found my wedding ring and at that moment I was hooked on metal detecting.

I permanently moved back to my home state of Florida in 2015 and I began metal detecting the beaches and parks periodically.  I enjoyed it so much I upgraded my metal detector and started searching more often where I would find mainly coins, toy cars and junk jewelry.  Along the way, I’ve met several people while metal detecting and they have told me stories of how they or someone else had lost something valuable at the beach or park.  I thought to myself that it would be nice to be able to help someone recover those lost valuables, but wasn’t sure how to go about it.

Then while metal detecting at the beach, I met another metal detector person named Steve Thomas.  Steve was very friendly and told me all about being a member of Ring Finders.  He said he enjoyed helping others find their lost valuables and the joy it brought to the owners when he was able to return their lost items.  That made me think of how I felt when I lost my ring and the feeling of joy when I recovered it.  It was shortly after that chance meeting I decided to join Ring Finders in hopes that I could help those that had lost their valuable items.

I hope with me joining Ring Finders that I can help in some small way to recover a lost sentimental item and return it to its rightful owner so that it would turn their terrible event into a joyful reunion.