The story of the lost and found wedding ring in Pauanui
After doing some recent gardening, my wife Jenny and I went to the Pauanui Sports and Recreation Club for dinner. As we were about to leave the Club I noticed that my wedding ring of 52 years was missing. Panic stricken, we searched the Club but to no avail. After a sleepless night contemplating what the loss of this cherished ring meant to me, I thoroughly searched our garden and later the Club and adjoining car park before giving up in anguish. Pauanui resident Barbara Swindles suggested I call Michael McCarthy who lives locally and owns a metal detector. Michael searched the garden but found nothing apart from an old key. Undaunted, he went to the Club where Trevor, who runs the excellent restaurant, kindly identified the large bag of discarded dinner scraps from the night before amongst the many rubbish bins waiting to be picked up by the garbage truck. On running his detector over this bag, Michael heard a loud signal but alas it was from a tin can! Undeterred, he kept searching and after hearing a weak signal, he emptied the bag and searched patiently by running the soiled serviettes, bits of vegetables, coleslaw, old food, and sauces past his detector. Then with great excitement he found my treasured ring coated in salad cream and hidden in a piece of lettuce. Without Michael’s help my precious ring would have been lost forever. Jenny and I were delighted to celebrate our joy with Michael and his wife Vicki over dinner the next evening at one of the Pauanui restaurants. We also wish to thank Barbara Swindles for her suggestion, and Trevor and Diane from the Club restaurant for their encouragement to undertake this search and their willing assistance.
John Collins
