Lore of the ring: 1967 Samford class ring lost in recycling returned to Southeast Decatur resident

Jan. 29—Fifty-six years after his parents bought him a Samford University class ring at graduation, Norman Roby was sure it was lost forever.

Three days later, thanks to Decatur Recycling workers, the heirloom was back on his finger.

Decatur Recycling Manager Danny Dotson called the recovery "a one in a million shot" given the numerous steps the class ring went through in its journey from Roby's recycling bin to its discovery 11 miles away on the floor of the recycling center.

On Jan. 17, Roby emptied the contents of his old blue recycling container into the recycling bin and rolled the bin to the alley behind his home on River Bend Road Southeast in Point Mallard Estates.

But before long Roby, 77, felt what he described as an unusual nakedness on his hand. The Samford undergraduate degree class ring that his parents bought him at graduation in 1967 was gone.

"I looked all over the place at home," said Roby, a former attorney who is now retired. "It wasn't any place where I thought it might be."

Roby checked the Neighborhood Christian Center's parking lot, where he had been earlier that morning.

"I figured the ring was probably gone," Roby said.

After leaving Roby's home, Dotson said, the recycling truck continued collecting about 4 tons of recyclables before returning to the Decatur Recycling Center at Morgan County Regional Landfill on Alabama 20.

Dotson said the truck emptied its contents, including the ring, at the recycling center. A Bobcat scooped up the tons of debris, mostly plastic and cardboard, and dumped it on the floor of the first level of the center. The items were then pushed into a chute and they fell to the base of a conveyor belt that moved the items to the second floor.

The materials were then spread out at a work station for sorting by Limestone Correctional Facility inmates on work release. They removed unusable or dirty items.

It was at this point one of the inmates found Roby's ring.

"It's a miracle the Bobcat didn't run over and flatten the ring, it didn't fall through the conveyor belt or get damaged along the way," Dotson said.

Dotson said he told the inmates, who aren't allowed by the prison to talk to the press, how proud he was that they were so observant.

"I told them the ring's not worth much but there's a lot of sentimental value because the person had it for 56 years," Dotson said.

This wasn't the first time workers at Decatur Recycling found items of value that city residents accidentally put in their recycling bins. Keys are the items most often tossed into bins by mistake, Dotson said.

"One lady hid her husband's Christmas present in the recycling bin and he took the bin to the curb with the present still in it," Dotson said.

In March, the recycling team found a wallet and delivered it to the owner's home. A driver's license and other identification made it easy to find the owner.

However, finding the ring's owner was not so easy. Dotson said he and some of the center's full-time employees researched the ring, trying to identify the owner.

"We called Samford and they didn't want to help," Dotson said.

Dotson told his boss, Landfill Director Wanda Tyler, about the class ring and their unsuccessful search for its owner.

"I only got involved when I put the lost ring on Facebook and other social media," Tyler said.

The social media post was shared multiple times. Roby said he saw the post three days after he lost the ring and took a chance by driving out to the landfill. Sure enough, it was the right ring with a BS (for bachelor's of science degree) on the side and fading white Greek letters on the stone.

"I was so glad they found it," Roby said.

— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432. Twitter @DD_BayneHughes.