Dogged Metal Detector Enthusiast Won't Give Up, Pulls Ring From Ocean on 3rd Try

Donning a headlamp and wetsuit, 60-year-old metal detector enthusiast Lou Asci waded waist-deep into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New Hampshire to rescue a diamond wedding ring lost a week earlier by 29-year-old Francesca Teal. It was the third time Asci searched the site.

“I don’t take failure all too well,” Asci told The Boston Globe. “I wanted to go back and give it one last shot.”

Teal had lost her cherished family heirloom on August 6 while tossing a football with her husband, Austin, in the shallows at North Beach in Hampton, NH, about 40 miles north of Boston. The soldered-together engagement ring/wedding band combo carried extreme sentimental value because the rings had been passed down from her great-grandmother.

“This one throw hit my hand, and I saw the ring pop off my finger and go into the water,” Teal told The Globe. “In that moment, my heart dropped.”

Austin marked the approximate spot the ring hit the water. They borrowed a pair of goggles from a nearby beachgoer, but couldn't find the ring. After two hours, the gave up.

When the got home, Teal then turned to social media for help. She posted a plea and a reference photo on the Hampton Beach Residents & Friends Facebook page.

She wrote," “Hello! Long shot here… earlier today I was at The Wall, North Beach, Hampton N.H. & unfortunately lost my wedding ring in the ocean. We searched for hours with no luck… hoping this gets to anyone who might have a metal detector and goes to North Beach frequently. It was in front of/around the 18th street area… just hoping if someone does happen to find it it can make its way back to me… I appreciate all the help from those on the beach today looking as well. Here’s a photo for reference… thank you!”

Members of the Facebook page enthusiastically shared Teal's story and before long it caught the attention of Asci, a resident of Marshfield, MA, who wrote to Francesca and told her, "Don't lose hope." He was on the case.

Asci failed in his first two attempts to find the ring, but on the third try — on August 14 — he decided to venture further out into the surf.

“It was getting late, it was getting dark, and the tide was coming in,” Asci told The Boston Globe. “I decided to go out deeper than where I thought it was.”

The water was higher than waist level when he got the hit he was hoping for. The ring had been buried under four inches of sand.

Asci sent Teal a photo of his find along with a comical tongue-in-cheek message: “Please tell me this is the ring so I can finally get off this beach.”

The hero ring finder even traveled to the Teal home so Austin could place the ring back on Francesca's finger.

Teal returned to the Hampton Beach Residents & Friends Facebook group to report the great news and to credit the numerous people who helped in the efforts to get her ring back.

“My ring was found and has been brought back to me!” she wrote. “Thank you to everyone who shared that post, sent well wishes or prayed to St. Anthony. But mostly thank you to Lou Asci & all the other very kind, generous & inspiring strangers that took time out of their days to search for it."

She commented that she was overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers.

"It has been so amazing to witness humanity in this positive way & has brought so much faith to myself & others," she added. "People helping people, I will always extend my hand to others in the way you all have showed to me. As my Dad would say, ‘Do good, be good.’ Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Ironically, Asci found a second ring — a men's wedding band — while searching for Teal's ring. He shared news about his find on the Hampton Beach Residents & Friends Facebook group and is hoping to return it to its rightful owner.

Credits: Images courtesy of Francesca Teal.

Rare Purple Pearl Emerges From Littleneck Clam Appetizer at Delaware Eatery

A Pennsylvania family enjoying a vacation at Rehoboth Beach, DE, expected the trip would net a lot of quality time and a bounty of souvenir mugs and T-shirts. What they got as a bonus was a rare purple pearl and a memory of a lifetime.

Scott Overland of Phoenixville, PA, was finishing up his littleneck clams appetizer at Salt Air restaurant when he encountered a hard object.

“I thought I bit down on a piece of shell or something,” Overland told delawareonline.com. “My wife thought it was a piece of candy because it looked like those candy dots.”

The bright lavender object was domed at the top and flat on the back, similar to the button candies that come on a paper roll. But, when Overland inspected the inside of the clam shell, he noticed an indentation where the pearl had grown. He placed it there and it fit perfectly.

“We had never heard of a pearl in a clam," he added. "I always thought they came in oysters.”

Overland has since learned that natural pearls do, indeed, grow in clams. They are very rare and a single specimen — depending on the size, quality and shape — can be worth thousands of dollars.

Pearls found in clams are classified as non-nacreous and have a porcelain-like appearance. Pearls grown in oysters present a deeper glow caused by layers of nacre that refract the light.

Natural pearls are organic gems, created by a mollusk totally by chance, without human intervention. Cultured pearls, by comparison, are grown under controlled conditions, where a bead is implanted in the body of the mollusk to stimulate the secretion of nacre.

Clams served at the Salt Air restaurant are the popular northern quahog variety grown by Cherrystone Aqua Farms in the Chesapeake Bay. A spokesperson for the grower's parent company, Ballard Clams and Oysters, told delawareonline.com that he hears about diners finding pearls in their clams or oysters two or three times a year.

Overland, 37, told Fox 5 DC that he was planning to get the pearl appraised and had no immediate plans to sell it.

He said that the craziest part of the story is that the clams were nearly returned to the kitchen uneaten because they came with a pepper garnish that Overland's wife didn't care for.

They decided to accept the appetizer as it was presented and were rewarded with a glistening gem.

“It’s a fun story and a fun memory,” Overland told delawareonline.com.

Credits: Images courtesy of Scott Overland.

McDonald's 'Litter and Glamour' Campaign Encourages Proper Trash Disposal

McDonald's Netherlands is encouraging the proper disposal of trash by giving away limited-edition jewelry inspired by discarded fast-food packaging. Among the items are gold earrings made to look like empty dipping sauce containers and a red crystal pendant resembling a slightly scrunched french fry box.

Created by the TBWA\Neboko ad agency, the “Litter and Glamour” campaign includes 258 participating restaurants, each of which has installed a special golden trash can. Customers who drop their waste in the special receptacle between August 16 and September 12 are automatically entered to win one of the seven unique items from the collection.

A 30-second commercial supporting the campaign shows how an average McDonald's customer can become a red-carpet celebrity by simply throwing her rubbish in a bin. The spot shows the woman finishing up a drink in a McDonald's parking lot and throwing out the cup. Then the scene transitions to a fantasy starring the same woman and the same drink. This time the paparazzi and fans watch breathlessly as she walks toward a golden trash can and tosses the cup inside. This woman is a winner, of course, and she joyfully shows off her reward — a dazzling french fry box necklace. The master of ceremonies explains, "In this way, we make the neighborhood a little more beautiful."

“Turning seemingly worthless items you find in the streets into valuable jewelry is very disruptive, especially when you stimulate people to throw away their waste into a bin and have the chance to win it back as a limited collection of McDonald’s jewelry," Darre van Dijk, chief creative officer for TBWA\Neboko, said in a statement. "Now that’s how you encourage good behavior!"

An independent notary will determine in advance the time, date and location of each winning trash deposit. The customer who drops trash in a golden receptacle at that exact time (or the who is first after that moment) will be the winner.

In addition to the dipping sauce container earrings and the french fry box pendant, the collection includes a milk shake lapel pin, a Big Mac box ring, a coffee creamer pendant, a soft drink cup pendant and mini french fry box dangle earrings.

The design and fabrication of the collection is the result of a collaboration between the sixth-generation jewelry firm De Vaal and casting specialist Bronze Special Art.

The anti-littering campaign carries on the messaging of McDonald's previous initiatives called "You Bin It, You Win It" (2020) and "Trash Dance" (2021).

Currently, 91% of the product packaging used by McDonald's in the Netherlands is made from renewable, recycled or certified materials. The goal is 100% by 2025.

Check out the “Litter and Glamour” commercial here...

Credits: Jewelry photos courtesy of McDonald's. Paparazzi screen capture via Youtube.com / TBWA\NEBOKO.