Losing a prized personal possession is devastating, but for a former North Bay man, that deep sense of loss, is replaced by a happy ending.
"I feel as though I've won the lottery," said Caleb Smith.
One year after graduating from Chippewa Secondary School, Smith lost his school ring. That was seven years ago..
He had taken his ring off and slipped it into his gym bag before an ultimate frisbee practice at his former school. After the game he quickly grabbed the bag and headed home. Panic set in when he reached for his ring, only to discover it was no longer there.
"Having a high school ring was something I always wanted, I even had my name engraved inside. I guess I felt frustration for a lack of a better word. For days after I checked that field over and over again," said Smith. "I was always so careful when I took it off. Even when I went swimming I would take it off because I didn't want to lose it. My memories of high school were attached to it."
Life went on and the music major eventually moved to Montreal where he currently performs with his band Caleb Smith and the North Country Towers.
Throughout the years, thoughts of his lost ring would pop into his head. So he was shocked when, on June 26th, he was contacted by Mark McCallion, asking if he had lost a graduation ring.
McCallion found the ring about two inches underground near the football field goal posts, while metal detecting at the school. He tracked down the rightful owner from the name inscribed inside the ring.
See: Ring lost 7 years ago returned to owner thanks to a metal detector and online sleuthing
"He looked my name up and in one of my bios it said I was from North Bay originally. I don't get many messages through the band outside of doing shows and things, so when he messaged me asking if I went to Chippewa Secondary and if I had lost a ring and what my middle initial is, I guess that was the defining moment. I got the ring back within a week. My father was coming to Montreal to help me move, so he brought it with him."
Smith was in disbelief, thinking that someone actually took the time and trouble to find him and return something he valued so much.
"My initial reaction was shock. It was incredible. I never really thought I would ever be contacted, let alone through the band. I don't know how he would have ever found me otherwise. I think out of stubbornness I had kept the jewellery box, because I wanted something as a memory," he laughs. "Now that I have the ring, I put it in the box and it looks the exact same as when I got it."
Other than being slightly warped, the ring is in good shape. Smith says it now comfortably fits on his pinky finger, so he will be bringing it in to get repaired and sized. Once that happens, he plans to wear it with pride.
"This type of thing doesn't normally happen, right? That's something I valued growing up in North Bay. It's a reminder of the community I really loved, having people go out of their way to help. We even tried to compensate him for all of his work and he didn't want it."
In another strange twist, Smith came very close to never seeing his ring again. He been toying with the idea of changing the name of his band. The very name that lead McCallion to Smith in the first place.
