Vol. 10 No. 8                                                                                                                                    SEPTEMBER 2005

THE SCOOP & THE BUCCANEER

SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN SEEK & SEARCH CLUB

 HOW I STARTED DETECTING

SEEDED HUNT!

In our last newsletter I went into great detail about our fall seeded hunt, so this month I will just highlight the important facts.

The hunt will be on Sunday, September 25th at the Fly Wheeler's Showgrounds located just a few miles east of South Haven. There is a map on the outside cover of this newsletter and also on the club's web site.

Those who wish to camp with us may show up as early as Friday, the 23rd.

On Saturday, the 24th there will be a special hunt called the

"Five & Dime" hunt. This hunt will cost $5.00 to enter and all proceeds will be going back into the hunt for targets and prizes. Our huntmaster, John Dudley, is asking everyone to bring one or two (or more) donations for this event. They can be coins, rings, or other jewelry.

On Saturday night we will have a big campfire and you do not need to be a camper to take part in any of these activities.

The Sunday morning activities will start at 9:30. First there will be a light breakfast, then from 10:00 to perhaps 10:30 to 10:45 we will have a Sunday worship service.

At 12:00, before our main hunt, we will have our Sunday potluck so be sure to bring a dish to pass. The table service (plates, cups and utensils) will be provided. Also, there will be coffee and cold drinks. If you like a special soft drink, feel free to bring your own.

I hope that you have signed up for the main hunt and have paid your $25.00! If not, you better take care of it at this meeting to avoid the $5.00 late fee.

The main hunt gets underway Sunday at 1:30 and the top prize will be a $250.00 gift certificate redeemable in merchandise at Pro/Stock Detectors.

Also everyone entered in the main hunt will receive a free surprise collectable!

The Kid's Hunt will start at 2:30 and we are asking for a few kid's prize donations. And don't forget to also bring in a prize donation (or two) for the adult hunt.

After the Kid's Hunt John has one last special hunt planned for us! What a guy! The Golden Buffalo Hunt will include a very special prize! The Golden Buffalo hunt is an extra $5.00 but it should be a blast!

I counted 57 people at the last meeting, and as usual, we had a great time of friendship and great fellowship.

After we recited the Pledge of Allegiance, President Mike Walker asked me to tell the club about something that is as hard for me to write about now as it was to talk about that night.

I have been a metal detector dealer for many, many, years and I have been able to make some great friends. Friendships can bring much happiness into your life, but at some point friendship can also bring great sorrow.

   Outdoor Outfitters of Waukesha, Wisconsin, is my distributor for many of the detector brands and accessories that I sell and has been since the mid seventies. Gary and Arlynn Bischke were the owners of of Outdoor Outfitters and we talked by phone several times each day. They would go  out of their way to help me (to help you).

When my father sold his business, the buyer didn't want to have the metal detector business. I thought I would see if it could stand on its own. Gary knew it would be hard, but he was bound and determined to help me if he could.

On the first official day in my new detector shop, and the first day of my father's retirement, dad was there helping me as usual. But on this day, he was doing a job that should have been mine. We were putting some final touches on the new building when the ladder he was working on slipped, and he fell to his death.

Having lost my best friend, and now with a broken heart, I started on a journey that would alter the course of my entire life.

Before Dad signed the final papers, the soon-to-be owner of the R.V. business didn't want the huge inventory of used trailers and motor homes. "No problem," we thought. We sold many of them at auction, but sadly there were many of the more expensive ones that didn't sell. My father's plan was to sell them gradually and at his own pace. Now with Dad's passing, that job shifted to me and it would take a couple years and hundreds of hours until I saw the last one leave.

Gary knew that I was doing all this work for my mother's sake and it wasn't a paying job. He also knew that I should have been focusing all my efforts at promoting the detector store. There was no hiding it, Gary knew that I was slowly slipping under. Invoices that were due in 30 days would sometimes slip back to 60 and even 90 days-- it wasn't looking good.

Gary never lost faith in me and he knew that if he could buy me more time the shop would be a success. Oh, I was selling stuff all right, but because of trying to pay off my mounting bills I couldn't afford to replace my stock. Without product you don't have a store.

At this point Gary and Arlynn loaned me a $20,000 line of credit at 3% interest and it saved my business but it took many years to pay Gary and Arlynn back.

Gary used to joke, "Al, my first day of retirement will be the day you make the last payment!" He meant it!" He had it all planned out, and he knew the very day that was to be.

Often times, on those cold and snowy January evenings when there wasn't a customer for miles and it was dark by 4:00 pm, my phone would ring.

 Gary would say, "Al, I'm bored, and I need someone to talk to." Well, after all, it was his 800 number, and this is a pretty lonely business at that time of year, so we would swap treasure hunting stories. Sometimes we would talk for an hour or more.

Gary did very well as a metal detector distributor, but that was just a weird side effect to Gary. He couldn't believe he could be paid for doing something he loved to do so much. Even if there was no money in it, Gary would have found a way to do it for free! It wasn't about "the business," it was all about "treasure hunting," for both Gary and Arlynn.

One day Arlynn called me up and said "Al, did you see the picture in 'Treasure' magazine where I displayed all of my Fisher finds?"

(At that time Arlynn and I were Fisher's biggest fans! We often teased the Whites and Garrett guys. We used to say," If the fire danger is high, we can't use our Fishers -- they are just too hot!")

I replied, "No I didn't see your picture, where is it?"

"I just told you, it's in the new issue of 'Treasure,' just inside the front cover."

I grabbed the magazine, opened it up and there she was! Arlynn was pictured with the biggest display of hundreds and hundreds of rings (She was one of the best water hunters ever! She frequently clobbered the guys) There were piles and piles of coins, piles of religious pendants, tokens, and you name it-- it was truly awe-inspiring!

Behind all of this great treasure, was Arlynn kneeling down beside a new Compass Coin Scanner metal detector! It was a Compass Metal Detector ad!

To the Compass company's credit, they never said that Arlynn found any of this stuff with a Compass detector! We had to laugh because it sure was implied that she did! We all knew better.

"Al, I didn't do it to promote Compass, I did it to promote the hobby!"

This great hobby, and sharing it with others, was her passion! Arlynn developed a terminal illness and her health slipped away very quickly. As Gary regularly briefed me on Arlynn's condition, I had stopped praying for her healing, and started praying that the Lord would not allow her to linger and suffer. Arlynn's sickness was hard on Gary. During this time, in so many ways, I could see the hidden blessing of my father's quick passing.

Then one day I received a call from Carl, at Outdoor Outfitters, and I could tell by his voice what he was about to say.

"Arlynn is gone, right Carl?"

There was silence.

"Carl, is that what you are calling about?"

"Al, Arlynn is not gone. Gary took her to the hospital and while he waited for her to be treated, he died of a heart attack."

Within a few days, Arlynn went into eternity to be with Gary. They left behind two wonderful daughters. And now the weight of learning the detector business, and caring for all of us dealers, had been thrust onto them.

Gary and Arlynn's daughter, Teri, and her husband, Wayne Otto, were the ones who really had to take the bull by the horns. Just like Gary and Arlynn, Wayne loved to treasure hunt!

A few days before our last club meeting, my buddy, Geiger, from Outdoor Outfitters, called me and he said, with a very painfully sad voice,

"Al we lost Wayne, I wanted to tell you personally."

Later that day the other dealers received this heart breaking

e-mail:

"On Sunday, August 14, 2005, Outdoor Outfitters was dealt a great loss with the untimely death of Wayne Otto. Wayne was doing something that he loved - water hunting with friends at Lake Nokomis in Tomahawk, when he accidentally drowned stepping off a sandbar.

Wayne loved his family, he took his children swimming each day, and spent as much time with them as possible. His two older children went with him to "Treasure Week" and he was looking forward to taking all three kids next year. He loved relic hunting and meeting the faces that went with the voices from work.

Wayne was a great husband, father, brother, and friend to us the many dealers. Wayne was a generous man with a huge heart and he will be deeply missed by all Wayne leaves behind Teri, his wife of 8 years; son, Wolfy, 7, daughters, Angela, 6 and Morgan, 3. His parents, Larry and Barb Otto, and two brothers and many sisters, nieces and nephews.

Well my friends, we have no guarantee for tomorrow. My heart breaks for Teri. She has been through so much. Please pray for her.

.

TREASURE BUG!

    So many years have past that I may not have all of these events in the proper order. Thinking back, I believe my first exposure to a treasure hunter at Fort Myers' beach may have been a year or two before my trip south with my best friend Tim. I do swear that all of the following story is true but it may not be in the right chronological order.

    Hal Cooper e-mailed me as Hurricane Katrina first hit the Florida coastline, long before she moved up the Gulf, headed for New Orleans. The news was that trees were down in south Florida with phones out and widespread power outages.

    Hal wrote me asking, "With as many hurricanes that these people have dealt with, wouldn't you think they would bury their power and phone lines?"

    My grandparents have had a place in Fort Myers, Florida since 1957 and I know about as many street names down there as I do in Kalamazoo. I couldn't resist showing off my South Florida savvy! I told Hal that under a few inches of dirt Florida sits on limestone rock.

" Bury their phone lines? Hal they don't even bury their dead." All of the burial vaults are above ground in most of the coastal areas.

Hal got all excited about my mention of Fort Myers! It turned out he was very knowledgeable about the area too and he wrote back mentioning many of his memories.

I responded with the following letter.

Hi Hal, I know this area of Florida very well! My grandmother who is now 90 has had a place in Fort Myers since 1957. I used to fish with my grandfather in the Caloosahatchee river for giant snook, and also out in the Gulf for red snapper, grouper, flounder and whatever else would bite. We even landed a shark or two!

 In 1966 a local Plainwell man was driving to work at the Ford dealership when he noticed my neighbor, Carol, sunning in her bikini. What he didn't notice was the car in front of him had stopped. Of course, he rear-ended the car and demolished his nearly new 1965 Ranchero.

Since he was a mechanic and also a drag racer, he cut off the crumpled front end, and cut out the center of the firewall. Then he put a hot Shelby 289 V-8 between the seats and added a straight front axle from an Econoline van and a one piece tilt-up front end. You had to be a 60's drag racer to appreciate all of this --- it was like the early Gasser and funny cars. Before he was finished with the project, he lost interest. That's when I bought it, and with my dad's help, finished it.

I was only 17 at the time and I had the baddest street car (truck) around. I actually got kicked out of school for a week for trying to pop wheelies in the high school parking lot! (Don't tell my kids.)

My best friend, Tim, and I drove that mean machine to Fort Myers in 1967-68 and everywhere we went the Ranchero drew a crowd. When we stopped for gas, we would always tilt the front end forward to check the oil. When people couldn't see much more than the radiator and the water pump, they would rush to see what was going on. In my mind I can still hear the sound of that sweet running engine!

We stayed at my grandparent's place that week and each day we would drive out to Fort Myers Beach. That Ranchero was a girl magnet, but even so, something else caught my eye that would change my life.

Out on the beach there was a man with a strange device that he swung back and forth over the sand. I wondered, "What on earth is he doing?" I noticed that from time to time he would reach down, and with a sifter, he would scoop the sand, then place something in a cloth bag tied to his waist. I stalked him for awhile trying to figure this whole thing out. Pretty soon he realized he was being followed, so he turned and beckoned me over.

About 10 minutes later, we were sitting in a little cottage that he and his wife were renting, right across from the beach. (Huge condos are there now) While his wife served us cold lemonade, he brought out a couple of those old Tampa Cigar boxes and opened them up. To a 17 year old dreamer, it looked like Black Beard's treasure! There were watches and rings and bracelets, a huge assortment of jewelry, and lots and lots of coins! I was hooked!

Before I left that day, the man told me about a cigar store newsstand in town, where I could pick up a copy of Long John Latham's True Treasure magazine, and he promised, "In that magazine you could find a place to buy a metal detector."

Well, I almost didn't have enough money to buy the 69-cent magazine! In fact, we had to ask my grandparents for enough gas money to get home. I don't know how much money they gave us anymore, but with gas at 24.9 cents per gallon, it was way more than we needed.

By the time we got into the Tennessee mountains, it was getting very cold and there was no heater
or defroster in the Ranchero.

Fireworks where illegal in Michigan, except for sparklers, so we figured that it would be foolish for us to miss our chance to buy some. We pulled off the road where a man was selling fireworks out of an old school bus body that was sitting on its frame. It was all painted up with crude, homemade signs which looked to be painted by a six year old. The man showed us his selection and it was very impressive, at least to a couple of teenagers! There were roman candles, bricks of fire crackers, bottle rockets, M-80s, cherry bombs, and sky rockets! Oh the lure of forbidden fruit!

As it turned out, the fireworks dealer was suffering from a lack of heat, like us, and man it was freezing!

Without even quibbling with him, his prices dropped lower and lower! In a last ditch attempt to put an end to his work day, so he could go home and set by the fire, he said, "For forty dollars you can take it all!"

Checking our funds, we decided that it was too good a deal to pass up! We figured that if we skipped a night in a motel, skipped a couple meals, and drove straight to Michigan we could swing it.

After we got home we made a tidy profit by selling illegal fireworks to our friends! (Except the Roman Candles, we kept them for ourselves!) You know how kids shoot each other with those sissy paint balls today? Well, we used to run around and shoot at each other with flaming fireballs! It's a wonder I survived those teen years!

All of the way home I kept thinking about metal detecting! How was I ever going to be able to afford one? Then that light bulb in my head glowed with a super idea! My father had a RV dealership with a large accessory store, filled with camping supplies.

"Every camper will want to buy a metal detector," I thought.

That night we pulled into the driveway. My parents were so glad to see us safely home. In the house, they had a warm fire in the fireplace and a hot supper was on the table. My friend, Tim, slipped off his shoes, pulled off his socks. Then he exclaimed, "Hey look at this!" There was ice between his toes!

The next day I found my dad alone in his office and I decided the time was right to sell him on the idea of selling metal detectors! Well, it didn't take long before he was as excited as I was!

"What brand should we sell?" he asked.

Of course I didn't have a clue, even after reading that copy of True Treasure a half dozen times. That man on the beach was using a White's detector, but not knowing much of anything about them, well, I was most impressed with Garrett's ads especially since they advertised "Dealers Wanted." Dad liked the fact that they were green, which was also his company's color.

That was in 1968 and, as I recall I had to order 4 detectors to become a dealer. Well, since that
day on Fort Myers Beach I have found a lot of goodies, and now have a large treasure display of my own. I never found very much at Fort Myers beach, but for me that is where it all started.

Hal asked me about Sanibel and Captiva islands. He wondered if they had built a bridge to them yet.

Yes there is a beautiful bridge to those islands. They claim it is the "Most fished bridge in the world!"

Last year's hurricane cut Sanibel in half--- literally!

I have always loved those Spanish names, Sanibel and Captiva-- they ring of pirates and treasure!

There was a great restaurant on the Pine Island road in Matlacha where they cooked the best fresh sea food! I remember going there as a boy and the name sounded so much like the pirate jargon of the sea. It was called the "Lob Lolly." Their fresh grouper and snapper and snook was to die for!

I had always wondered what that swashbuckler-sounding name meant, so about 3 years ago, as we were paying for our meal, I asked the cashier as to the meaning of "Lob Lolly."

She said, "It is a beautiful long leaf pine tree that grows in Michigan's Upper Peninsula-- where we used to live." Talk about small world!

Last years hurricane completely destroyed the Lob Lolly and there are no plans to rebuild. I found a half finished web site still floating around in cyberspace. Kind of sad to think how quickly our lives can change.

Well Hal, I could tell you a hundred adventures from the times I have spent on the banks of the Caloosahatchee! Like searching for Billy Bowleg's Treasure or fishing aboard the Captain Debold! Some great memories!

Written By Mike Walker

Sure has been hot and dry this summer! I have had to hunt less old yards and switch to a little more water hunting. I sure can't wait for the cooler weather when the ground will also be more moist, so I can get out there and find those old coins and relics!

Looks like we will have about a dozen people from the club going to the Milan hunt. It will be a lot of fun, and I hope to give a report at the club meeting this month. Also this month is our fall hunt. I hope many of you can come out to the Fly Wheeler's grounds in South Haven and join in the fun. Remember we will be having a special hunt for those that come Saturday night!

A few days ago, I set up a metal detecting display at the Vicksburg district library. I hope some of you can come over to check it out. It will be there the whole month of September.

At this months meeting we will be taking up a collection for the hurricane victims. The club will then match the donation. The Vice president and I will hand deliver it to International aid of Spring Lake. I urge each of you to dig deep! At the very least empty your clad jar, cash it in, and help fellow Americans if you can. See you at the meeting!

JEWELRY FINDS FOR AUGUST:

1. 10-K Diamond Ring 19 Diamonds                                    By: Patrick Goraj

2. Gold Plated Indian Ring                                                        By: Dan Clark

3. Watch                                                                                 By: Brent Stump

4. Lady's 10-K Ring 15 Diamonds                                           By: Tim Swenor

5. 10-K Lady's Ring W/ Amethyst                                          By: Mike Walker

6. Lady's Gold Ring w/17 Diamonds                                      By: Steve Jellison

7. Lady's Gold Ring w/1 Diamond                                              By: John Wise

8. Lady's 10-K Diamond Ring                                                  By: Keith Payne

9.Lady's 14-K Diamond Ring                                                   By: Tom Becker

10. Antique Cross Purple Stones                                        By: Jerry Lipscomb

11. 14-K Diamond Ring                                                   By: Bob MacDougall

12. Antique Dinner Knife Barrette                                            By: Ron Jenner

What a selection of valuable treasure! Tom Becker had the diamond ring that most impressed people with one ½ Carat and 2, 1/4 Carat diamonds! Good job, Tom!

Jerry Lipscomb had a beautiful late Victorian Era cross which we can date to the very first years of the 1900's. The fake diamonds are all glass and at the time the hardest thing to make was clear or colorless glass. One of the glass makers discovered that by mixing in manganese into the mixture, the glass would come out clear.

After exposure to sunlight, this same element would turn the glass to a lovely, soft shade of purple. Soon new ways to make glass clear were invented. I love it Jerry! You know that this is one antique that is not a fake--- treasure it!

COIN FINDS FOR AUGUST

1. 1856 U.S. Large Cent                                         By: Rick Seymour

2. 1915-50¢ 1909-25¢ 1913-10¢ (Same hole)          By: Henry Hoadley

3. 1867 Shield U.S. 5 ¢                                             By: Mike Walker

4. 1806 Draped Bust ½ Cent                                     By: Bruce Wood

5. 1893 Barber Quarter                                                By: Dan Clark

6. 1944 Mercury Dime                                              By: Brent Stump

7. 1917 Mercury Dime                                             By: Eric Mitchell

8. 1880 Indian Head Cent                                         By: Tim Swenor

9. 1868 Three Cent Nickel                                         By: Keith Payne

10. Standing Liberty Quarter                                    By: Tom Cleary

11. !976 Bicentennial $1.00                                 By: Nancy Lipscomb

12. 1873 Shield Nickel                                        By: Bob MacDougall

Our winner was Bruce Wood with his awesome 1806 Draped Bust Half Dime! This is the first coin of its type, that I know of, to be found by anyone in our club or any of my customers! Great find, Bruce!

1. Part of a Michigan State Seal Badge                                By: Mike Walker

2. Gaming Token                                                                 By: Brent Stump

3. 1857 Canada Bank Token                                                    By: Dan Clark

4. J.F. Halladay &n Son Token                                         By: Lonnie Convis

Lonnie Convis was our winner with a cool Battle Creek trade token! The token reads, "This Check and 44¢ Good For Two Genuine Rogers Tea Spoons" The reverse reads "J.F. Halladay & Son, Battle Creek Mich." Very nice, Lonnie!

Most Unusual Finds

1. I & M.U.C. Co. Tag                                                  By: Tim Swenor

2. Brass Valve                                                             By: Mike Walker

3. Lead Cracker Jack Stage Coach Toy                        By: Tim Swenor

4. Advertising Sewing Thimble                                   By: Jim Arnsman

 5. Antique Valiant Padlock                                         By: Keith Payne

6. Toy Gun                                                                 By: Alan Randolf

7. $12.00 in paper currency                                         By: Eric Mitchell

 8. Dental Bridge                                                        By: Bill Whitman

 9. 50 Cal. Musket Ball                                         By: Bob MacDougall

Dan Clark pointed out a problem to me here in the Most Unusual contest just a couple days after the meeting. We have been a little lax in teaching our new members the Find of the Month Rules and this member is blameless. Tim Swenor entered two items in this category which is against the rules. Don't worry, Tim's, 'Indiana & Michigan Utilities Company Tag received no votes so it had no affect on the voting. However Tim also had what I felt was the winning entry with the Cracker Jack Lead Stage Coach. I wasn't the only one who felt that way, Tim received over half of the total votes.

Mike Walker's antique valve came in second, and another of my favorites, Jim Arnsman's advertising thimble came in third, tied with Alan Randolph's cap pistol! Great job, guys!

Don Benedict's grandson, Josh, and Jerry & Nancy Lipscomb's grandson, Cory Lipscomb, were our special visitors! Martha Lantz from Portage is our newest member!

The Silver Cache, aka the Fishbowl, was emptied out by Rick Burch! So this means a silver eagle, a silver quarter and, as I recall, two silver dimes are added. If your number is drawn and you are at the meeting, you get to keep all the loot! If your number is drawn and you are not at the meeting, soooo sorry!

The keeper of the club's treasure adds more silver for next month!

Silver dollars were won by Dennis Robinson and Bruce Wood.

50/50 winners where Shawano Cleary and Patric Goraj! The total collected for the 50/50 was $92.00!

Bob MacDougall gave a report on the National Antique Bottle and Glass show that was held in Grand Rapids this year. It sounded like he had a great time! I just got word from a fellow collector who told me that at the Saturday evening auction, one of the rare, cabin bitters bottles from Kalamazoo, "The Best Bitters in America" by B. Desenberg & Co. Kalamazoo Mi., sold for $17,000.00! The record price for that bottle in 1996 was $2,350.00. Not a bad investment!