New York man’s class ring found after 11 years

Jan. 27 (UPI) — A New York man who lost his high school class ring during a walk in the park was reunited with the ring 11 years later, thanks to the daughter of the man who found it.

Joe Castrogiovanni said he hadn’t yet graduated from Valley Stream North High School when he lost his ring during a walk in Hall’s Pond Park in West Hempstead, Long Island.

“The ring was always a little loose and it must have just slipped off my finger,” Castrogiovanni told the LI Herald. “I didn’t notice it was gone until I got home. I went back that same evening to search for it but couldn’t find it.”

The ring was picked up by Robert and Grace Kopec during a walk through the park. Robert Kopec said the ring spent more than a decade in a drawer in his house until his daughter, Lauren, offered to help him find the owner on social media.

“The ring was on the ground and there was nobody around,” Robert Kopec said. “Somehow the story came up in discussion during the holidays and my daughter took some action to try to get it back to the person it belonged to.”

Lauren Kopec contacted the Valley Stream North Spartans account on Instagram, which led athletic director Michael Frazer to solicit help from Tom Schiavo, who was head coach of the football team in 2009.

Schiavo contacted another player from the same period, who remembered the number on the ring, 57, was Castrogiovanni’s jersey number.

“I was shocked to get the call somebody had the ring,” Castrogiovanni said. “It’s a keepsake and I’m thankful to have it back.”

Castrogiovanni said the ring fits him better now than when he lost it.

“It looks brand new and fits perfectly now,” he said.

A Maine man was reunited with his own class ring this month after losing it 32 years earlier. Richard Skinner of Meddybemps said he lost his Woodland High School class ring shortly after graduating in 1989.

Skinner said he never knew exactly where he lost the ring, but it turned up on eBay, where it was being sold by Goodwill Northern New England. Goodwill officials, upon hearing the ring’s story, returned it to its original owner.