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Lost and found stories have a familiar ring

Many Times readers can relate to a story about a man reunited with his class ring after more than two decades.

ST. PETERSBURG - A newspaper story about a class ring reunited with its owner after more than 20 years has generated a batch of other ring tales - happy, sad, hopeful, even tinged with irony.

One lost ring came from New Orleans' Abramson High School, a pickup point for refugees fleeing Hurricane Katrina and now closed indefinitely with other schools in the battered city.

Craig Sarvis said his brother found the girl's ring in Clearwater perhaps 10 years ago. It had rested in a family safety deposit box until being rediscovered earlier this year. The ring carries the initials ARM and is of 1972 or 1973 vintage, Sarvis said.

He said he'd love to return it but doesn't have the computer savvy to conduct a thorough search.

The original story, published Aug. 27 in the St. Petersburg Times, related how an Indiana man came across a Dixie Hollins High School class ring he had discovered in the St. Pete Beach surf in 1983.

A chain of e-mails and phone calls through the school and Dixie Hollins alumni president Sherry Brock resulted in '83 graduate Kevin Heine getting back the ring he had lost in 1982 in virtually the same spot.

Ron Dunham, a 1961 Dixie Hollins graduate, had his lost ring returned within hours of the story's appearance.

Brionna Albritton, 6, found the ring on a Boca Ciega Bay island near Bay Pines about a year ago.

"She was in ankle-deep water; it hurt her foot and she pulled it up," said Brionna's mother, Michelle Spannknebel.

Brionna gave it to her grandfather, Richard Spannknebel. When he saw Brock's name in the newspaper, he called her. Class of 1961 records, Brock said, showed just one person with the initials RHD - Dunham. She called him.

"It wasn't an hour before he came over," Richard Spannknebel said.

Dunham lost the ring in the water about a year before Brionna stepped on it.

"I'm really excited about it. I was sure that thing was gone forever," Dunham said. He sent Brionna $50, a stuffed bear and a Tweety Bird card.

Palm Harbor resident Rick Whitelaw said he was reminded of a custom ring his grandfather gave him for his bar mitzvah when he was 13 years old. He lost the ring at Honeymoon Island's Dog Beach in 1981 when he scooped up some sand and the ring came off.

"Every time I'm down on the causeway, I kick that water," Whitelaw said.

His ring carried the initials RSW and had a a small diamond over the "S." It also had a wraparound panther with its tail near the W and its head near the R.

Bob Hohmann has a Gibbs High School ring from the Class of 1990. He found it in an Office Depot parking lot in Clearwater. The girl's ring features a blue stone and carries the initials TDY or TOY, Hohmann said.

He, too, would like get the ring back to an owner.

"I don't want any glory, I don't want any fame," Hohmann said.