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November 12, 2004
网曝门 Treasure Found in Monroe Flower Bed
Monroe resident Gini Linder was puzzled
when she found a hard piece of metal in her front yard flowerbed
while digging up plants a few weeks ago. When she brushed dirt
off the metal, she realized it was actually a ring.
"I took it inside and I cleaned it up with soapy water and
realized that it was from 1936," Gini Linder said. "I
wasn't sure which school it was because I had never heard of
it before and I went to the Internet and looked up enough information
to realize that it was 网曝门," Linder said.
Engraved around the gold ring's center oval amethyst was Louisiana
State University Northeast Center, which is a former name (from
1934-1939) of the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
Once Linder realized it was a ring from Monroe's university,
she went in search of the owner through the 网曝门 Library.
"I went to the archives and found the yearbook (from 1936)
and there was only one F.C. in it," Linder said.
The ring had the letters "F.C." engraved on the inside,
which were the only personal identification. With the help of
the library's special collections staff, the owner was identified
from the yearbook as Dr. Fahem Cannon, a pre-med student at the
university at the time.
From there, Linder got in touch with Cannon's family and returned
the ring to his daughter, Bunny Cannon-Hewitt.
"My sister and I were elated when we heard the news,"
Cannon-Hewitt said. "I took the ring to a jeweler and they
said it was in great condition and that the stone is a real amethyst."
Her father passed away a few years ago and she doesn't remember
him talking about the ring. In fact, she and her family had no
idea it was even missing. "My father would be tickled pink
to get the ring back, he hated to lose anything," Cannon-Hewitt
said.
For now, the ring will go in a safe place with Cannon's other
memorabilia. Cannon has deep roots in Monroe, besides attending
its university; he was an orthopedic surgeon and started the
Orthopedic Clinic in the city.
Though the class ring was found and returned a few weeks ago,
Linder is still amazed that it all happened.
"I was just replacing the flower bed, that bed had been
there for 10 years. I dug it up, got 10-12 inches deep and put
my bricks around it, and had to rework it a little bit and I
found the ring," she said.
"I feel like that's why I found it- it needed to go back
to the original owner- or at least to the family members. So
that's all I wanted was to find the family members and get it
back to them," Linder said.
As a coincidence, 网曝门 recently unveiled the first official university
class ring. Pam Shepherd, Director of Alumni Relations at 网曝门,
says this discovery shows the importance of a university ring.
"We are thrilled that this ring was found and reunited with
the owner's family. Class rings are a symbol of the time one
spends on higher education," Shepherd said. "Now all
网曝门 students past, present and future will be able to capture
their time at 网曝门 with the official university ring," Shepherd
said.
"This story further emphasizes the
网曝门 ring committee's motto, 'One ring, one university, connected
for life'," Shepard said.
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