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The true meaning of "giving" is not what you get but what you give;
not how many gifts you receive,
but what you give to those who might not have had anything at all.
In the world in which we live today many people have forgotten or maybe some have never known the true meaning of giving back. And of what FHS meant to us. And what our friends and school taught us.
On THIS page I have witnessed what I considered the real meaning of GIVING!
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APRIL 30, 2009
I'm so glad that I can do my part in keeping the spirit of FHS going. It's been so awesome doing the web site and working with everyone. Doing the web site I have been able to do a lot of things, but I think this ( finding owners of lost rings ) has to be the best feeling of all!
I received a phone call from a Bishop Frederick J. Sansone in St. Louis MO. He said he found my phone # on the FHS web site and hoped that I could help him.
He found a FHS class ring in his mothers things. He stated that he had no idea how or where she had gotten the ring. But it looked to be from FHS in Bmt.
The ring was from the class of '59 and the initials were LGS. I had a '59 year book and found whom we thought it might be -- L. Gail Sutton . I did some searching and made a few phone calls but nothing came up. Then I got to thinking maybe she had a brother or sister. I went through several year books and finally found a Grant Sutton in the class of '61. I looked in the phone book, found a Grant S. and called. Sure enough it was her brother. I explained what was going on and we were trying to locate Gail. They are going to call Gail for me and give her my phone number.
Gail is living in Ottawa Il. now and called me back the next day. She was so excited to hear about her ring. I gave her Fred's number and she called him!
Seems Gail use to ride the bus to see her family in IL. and one of the bus stops was in MO. Freds father had owned a tavern next to the bus stop and we are guessing that either his father found the ring, or some one found it and "exchanged" it for a few drinks lol.
I talked to Gail again and Fred is mailing her ring! Oh what joy's and mystery's there are!
Thank you Fred for your kindness and willingness to go the extra mile to return the ring.
http://www.assisiparish.com/weddings.htm
UPDATE! Gail called me and received her ring. She was so excited to have it back! She never believed she would see it again after all these years!
NOV. 2008
This story starts in Nov. Well, really I think it goes back to Sept. 2008, when Southeast Texas was devastated by Hurricane Ike. Still recovering from Rita, many Southeast Texans were struggling to get back to a “normal” life. Then we were hit with Ike.
Homes were just wiped off the peninsula. There was nothing left of peoples lives. We all know the story of Ike by now. But what most of us don’t always hear about is the good deeds of people, that came from Ike.
As residents started going back to see what they could find of their homes, they found bits and pieces of everyones lives scattered all over the peninsula. Where was my house?
Who’s was this? What is that? There was really nothing left but memories and broken treasures buried in the sands of time.
On Nov. 16th I received an email from Margo Hogan ‘70. She and her brother, Tom Hogan '67, owned the house that their parents built back in 1958,
in Emerald I and while down there looking at their damage, Margo found several items. One of the things she found was a plastic box.
Margo said the box was buried in the sand and she had walked over it kicking it with her foot, but walked on by, thinking it was a broken piece of plastic, but something gnawed at her and she went back to dig it up. It was a small plastic box and was surprised when she opened it!
It was a small jewelry box, filled with jewelry.
Margo said in the jewelry box were several high school rings, one FHS and one BHS, the FHS ring looked to be from ‘52 or ‘57. And could I please post something on the FHS website for any one that might have lost their ring in the area to contact her.
I posted a notice on the FHS website, and sadly enough she didn’t get any response.
On Nov. 29th I received another email from Margo. She had taken the jewelry out and cleaned it up some and noticed initials in the ring after all. N.
M. H. And the year looked to be ‘52 or ‘57.
I looked in a ‘57 year book that I had and there were no girls in the senior class with the those initials and I didn’t have a ‘52.
Margo searched and posted notices on several "Ike" blogs and web sites. Still nothing. A few days later I called a friend of mine, Jim Frederick, from the class of ‘52 and asked him to look in his year book for a girl with those initials.
And guess what? Yes, he found one. I was so excited and emailed Margo back with the information. We even had her husbands name and an old address on Crystal Beach from a past reunion book that Jim had! Margo and I did some more searching. Margo found a listing in the Galveston county appraisal district for Freeman. They had lived on Sand Dollar, which is one street over from Emerald I. Her husband's name was B. F. Freeman. Margo looked again at the BHS man’s ring and the 3 initials in it were BFF. BINGO!
We had truly found the owner, only we hadn’t!
Of course all the phone lines were still down, so Margo had no way of contacting Noreen, AKA: Noreen M. Horton (Freeman) class of ‘52!
Margo posted more “looking for’s” on several websites with no luck.
Then one night I did a search for her husband, and found a Port Arthur newspaper archives from ’06. It was a wedding announcement, that listed Noreen Freeman and the late B.F Freeman as the grandparents of the bride. I emailed Margo with the names listed as the brides parents.
There was a listing the phone book for them and gave the number to Margo.
On Dec. 10th Margo talked to Noreen.
We were all so excited. Noreen had lived at the beach and had lost everything, much like every one else. The jewelry in the box was all she had left of what her late husband had given her.
Dates were set for a meeting. And on Dec. 23. Margo, myself: (Beth), my son, Mike,(who was in for Christmas) Noreen and her daughter, Kelly, met at Casa ‘Ole.
What a wonderful feeling.
And when I saw what was in the small jewelry box, I realize then what a very honest, giving, caring person Margo really was! The box was full of gold jewelry. Worth a lot of money. Not everyone would have even tried to find the owner!
But what the box held for Noreen, wasn't about worth, it was the memories and no amount of money could replace that.
Margo showed her school spirit 10 fold, in searching for the owner of the FHS ring, when she her self had lost everything.
Thank you Margo, for showing and sharing with us the true spirit for “THE BEST SCHOOL WE EVER KNEW”!
I know it’s hard balancing work, friends, a relationship, life’s every days needs and family, but don't forget to show your school spirit too!
Margo, Noreen and Beth
Margo and Noreen looking at the jewelry --- Noreen remembering the things she thought she had lost forever!
---------- One small box, so many memories ---------
BHS & FHS Rings
Update: The week before Christmas, Margo and her sister in law returned to looked for more treasures in their neighborhood and the location where she found Noreen's jewelry. Margo's sister-in-law, Jennifer, found a blue flat jewelry box with jewelry in it all covered with mud. When they got back to Bmt. they washed them off and there were some pearls in it. Margo called Noreen and believed they are hers! Within a few days Noreen claimed the pearls that she had lost in Ike. How awesone is that? Margo you are truly a treasure your self!
Several years back, I received and email from a lady up north. She was digging in her flower bed and found a FHS ring. She found the FHS website and emailed me with the year and initals in the ring, I was able to locate the owner. It was so exciting to be able to help her find the owner of that ring too!
((HUGS))) ---- Beth ----
This story is too funny, so I had to add it to my "ring" page.
December 2, 2008 - Channel 6 website
By Scott Lawrence
It's a story about a fish, a ring, and the one that got away for 21 years - not the fish - the ring.
Joe Richardson was fishing in Lake Sam Rayburn in 1987. The graduation ring he received from Universal Technical Institute in Houston fell off.
His wife, Lisa, told us he "pretty much forgot about it" until last Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. That's when a man who was fishing with two other people at Rayburn called him from a cell phone.
The caller told Joe they reeled in a fish and a ring popped out of the fish's mouth and onto the boat.
The ring had Joe's name etched on it. The men used the cell phone to do a search, and when they called the fourth Joe Richardson, Joe Richardson from Buna, they learned it was his ring they'd found.
Joe got his ring back after meeting with the fishermen last Friday night at the Dairy Queen in Buna.
The men caught the fish near the same area at Rayburn - Needmore Point - where Joe had lost his ring 21 years ago.
The 41 year old mechanic told the Associated Press that he wishes he knew "how many fish it's been in."
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