Donelson High School, Class of 1966

Hi, My name is Stan Wysocki. I live in Maple Shade New Jersey. While metal detecting at Newton Lake Park in Collingswood NJ, I found a 1966 class ring from Donelson High School, with the initials E H B. I had never heard of a Donelson High, so I went to the internet and found a notice of a class reunion for Donelson High School, class of 1966, Tennessee. On a side of the ring is the words," The Dons". I hope I have the right school. If so, any help you can give me in locating the owner of this ring would greatly be appreciated as I would love to return it to them. I think it would be a nice reunion surprise. Thank you, Stan

Wow!!! I knew of only two members of our class with the initials eb, Elaine Berry and Eddie Bayers. I went to Eddie's web site and found that his father was E. H. Bayers. riddle solved. So I wrote back: Stan, Yes, you do have the right school. We are the Donelson Dons. I am the unofficial class organizer and I will be hosting our 40th reunion at my house this summer. Its really nice of you to return this ring. It belonged to Eddie H. Bayers. I don't think I will tell him yet that someone found his ring. You're right, it would make a great surprise at the reunion. You can either send the ring to me and I will present it to him at the reunion along with your story, or you can send it directly to him. Eddie is a VERY accomplished musician as well as his wife Lane. There are links to their web sites from the DHS site. You can see pictures of Eddie and his wife Lane on the DHS web page which I also host. Let me know what you want to do. And thanks again. I know Eddie will be very pleased. He probably was performing at a concert there. (Little did I know at this time that Eddie was living under the boardwalk!) George Well, needless to say, I was very excited about all of this. I waited and waited and finally I got this reply from Stan:

Hello George, Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. We had a ton of snow and I threw my back out shoveling, and I haven't felt like messing around with the computer.( Don't get old George ). I was really glad to get your E-mail. I felt like I hit the lottery. I think your idea to present the ring at your reunion is a great idea. Receiving the ring from a friend and classmate, at his 40th reunion, will maximize the surprise. I can't think of a more appropriate way of having it returned. I'm sure Mr. Bayer never expected to see it again. I will try to send the ring to you within the next couple of weeks. Let me give you a little background on myself and the ring. I am 63 years old and my career was serving the City of Camden, NJ as a firefighter with the Camden Fire Department, retiring as a Captain, after 26 years on the job. (For anyone not familiar with New Jersey, Camden is connected to Philadelphia across the Delaware River, by the Ben Franklin Bridge). I found the ring a few inches in the ground, at the base of a tree, facing and approximately ten feet from the bank of Newton Lake, while metal detecting, in Collingswood, NJ. I actually found it a few years ago and my assumption was that Donelson High must be somewhere in the NJ, Philly area. I asked everyone I could think of if they ever heard of the school without any results till recently, when my daughter bought me a computer, which I'm still trying to learn how to use. (very frustrating). I decided to try the Internet when I came upon your reunion notice. Could it be? I thought. That's why I stated earlier, about hitting the lottery. What a coincidence. Please inform Mr. Bayer that I do not seek a reward of any kind. Past memories and objects that return us to those memories of our youth are priceless. I have felt that it was my duty to see if I could locate and return this ring . George, you have made my day, that is reward enough. I thank you. Wishing you and your classmates a wonderful reunion with lot's of fond memories. Stan

All I can say is WOW! What a stand-up guy. What are the chances? Anyone else feeling chill bumps? My reply: Stan What a great story. I have told several people about what has happened and they are just amazed. You are a very generous man to do this. You know they say such acts of generosity come back to you 10 fold! I will make sure Eddie gets a copy of your e-mail and knows "the rest of the story". Thank you again so much. I know this will mean a lot to Eddie. George Stan sent me the ring and now I had to figure out what I was going to do. I didn't know if Eddie was going to be at the reunion or not. I tried to entice him by writing him an e-mail and telling him I had a "big surprise" waiting for him at the reunion. Just so happens that Fan Fair, I know the name has changed, was going to be the week of the reunion and he and Lane would not be able to attend. What a let down! So then I called Lane to tell her the story and get her thoughts. Lane was very excited and really wanted us to meet and do something nice for Eddie. We decided that she and Eddie would meet Judy and myself at the Cracker Barrel on Stewarts Ferry Rd. for the surprise. Eddie just thought we were meeting for breakfast and reminiscing. After the waitress had taken our orders and we were just chatting, I mentioned to Eddie that I had something for him. I took out the ring and Eddie's jaw dropped to the floor. I then gave him a copy of Stan's letters to read. We were all on the verge of tears as we read Stan's letters. What a great surprise. Eddie went on to tell us the circumstance around why he was there. You will have to take Eddie out to breakfast to get that story. It was very interesting. Eddie really was a "starving artist".