BAILEYVILLE, Maine — Richard Skinner graduated from Baileyville’s Woodland High School in 1989. He says his mom bought him a class ring shortly before she died. He ended up losing the ring along the way and always wondered what happened to it.
“I had it less than a year," Skinner said. “It was on my finger one day and we were running around out goofing around somewhere and I noticed it missing."
Skinner said someone on the Woodland High School alumni Facebook page said an anonymous woman had reached out to let them know that there was a Woodland class ring for sale on eBay.
After the local community shared that information on Facebook, Skinner got his long lost ring back just before it was sold on eBay.
Sarah Craighead Dedman, an editor with the Machias Valley News Observer, also got involved by contacting the people at Goodwill Northern New England.
Dedman said, “When the people at Goodwill learned that the owner of the ring was clearly in evidence that they immediately and voluntarily took the auction down so that Richard could have his ring back."
Communication Manager with Goodwill Northern New England, Heather Steeves said, while this case was rare, they do always have to factually check out claims like this.
"It's really rare we can reunite an item like this with a person”, Steeves said. “There are thousands of donations and we’re just so happy that we can do the right thing and get it to him."
”The ring means a lot to me because my mother purchased it for me my senior year and passed away of bone cancer two years later so I am glad to have it back.”
Skinner said ironically his daughter will graduate from Woodland High School later this year.
