The start of the new year
brings us some good news on the legislative front. As a result of the detecting ban in the Louisville, KY, a bill has been
submitted in the KY senate to allow metal detecting in the state parks. You have probably received an email on this or have
seen it on various forums. It is worded a little different. I assure you that it does not outlaw detecting but does indeed
allow detecting in “improved” areas. Meaning picnic areas, athletic fields, etc. It does sound like the wording
is backwards to me also. Senator Seum met with members of the metal detecting community and he is helping with the cause.
The ace in the hole is that the
committee he chairs oversees the funding for the state parks. There is also a bill in the Wisconsin legislature to
open up the state lands to detecting. All state land was closed to relic hunting after too many finds were posted on the internet.
This is a battle involving a lobbyist working for the metal detecting community. The contact info for both of these can be
found on the FMDAC forum. Please make some contacts to the legislatures and voice your opinions. You can tell them that you
will avoid their states on vacations if metal detecting is not allowed in the state parks.
This cold snap has subsided for a bit here in Western
New York. The ground is still a bit to “hard” to get out digging so I am using the time to research some finds,
and do a little more cleaning and displaying of them I just finished taking some photos of some tokens I have found thru the
years. These are going to be added to an internet database. This was found thru a link someone posted on a forum. It has tokens
from all the states. It allows anyone to add to it. You can add tokens that are not on it, missing photos or missing or incomplete
info.
I
have found 7 tokens that are not on it and two that do not have photos. I will be adding these shortly. I am sure that some
of you have some that you could add.
Here is the link…. http://tokencatalog.com/index.php. Check it out and bookmark it. I have looked at it many
times. It’s a great resource.
Until next time - Happy Hunting - or maybe I should say – Stay warm!
Mark Schuessler
I received this from Avery Marder.
Let's say
this falls under the heading of Good Public Relations.
On Monday 12/21/09, I received a
phone call in my office from a fellow named Travis, who had acquired my number through the Brooklyn Club's (NYSAR) web
site. His initial question was if I knew somewhere he could rent a metal detector. After
I asked him a few questions I learned the details that brought Travis to me. It seems that he and his new bride of 6
months were walking through Central Park in NYC, and being that the new snow was so pristine they couldn't resist jumping
in to the fresh white powder and making Snow Angels. When Travis got up he brushed the snow off himself, then
took off his gloves to shake them off, and guess what, yep, he saw his wedding band fly out of the glove and didn't see
exactly where it landed. He and his bride looked for the ring but could not find it, and left the park very down hearted.
So, back to the
call. I told Travis that I had 3 pieces of bad news for him, the answer wasn't to rent a machine, even if he could, he
didn't know how to use it, and lastly, metal detecting in Central Park was not allowed.
But before
he had a chance to shed a tear, I told him that he called the right guy, and I'd try to help him. I explained the situation
in Central Park, and the permit system that was in effect in all parks in the City of New York. I also explained that I was
part of a group (The Task Force for Metal Detecting Rights) who were currently in the process of negotiating with the Parks
Department for fairer access to these and other parks. I told Travis that I would "TRY" to see if we could get "special
permission" to search in Central Park "just this one time, in just this one location, and only for his lost item"
- the wedding ring.
So the wheels were in motion, I immediately called Harold
Lowenfels, who heads the TFMDR, told him Travis' story, gave him Travis' contact info, and asked him to contact the
NYCDPR (Parks).
Well, after a couple of days of bureaucratic red tape, we
finally received permission to conduct this limited search (with the provision that we'd be under the watchful eyes of
a member of the Central Park Conservancy - who, as it turned out, didn't even show up). On Wednesday at 1 PM, just a few
short hours before the time Travis and his wife had to leave town to visit the in-laws, we planned the search, Oh the pressure
!
Fran and Harold Lowenfels met Travis at the park a little before the intended time and I got there about 10
minutes later. Travis had photographed the area he had lost the ring at several different angles, so we knew the exact
the AREA of the loss, about 10 feet square.
In less
than 15 minutes, Harold got a strong signal, put his sand (snow) scoop into the white powder, shook it and to every ones delight,
we all heard the telltale jingle of metal in the scoop ! Happy ending, Travis was elated, he could now
face his family with his wedding band in place - on his finger. We were all overjoyed.
Travis
offered us all kinds of rewards, but his happiness and relief was reward enough. By extending our services, and a helping
hand, we made a new friend, ally and spokes person to aid us in our negotiations with the NYC Parks Department. Travis will
be witting to the NYC Parks Department explaining his feelings about what we did to help him and based on his experience,
Metal Detectorists are an upstanding group citizens, who are willing to put ourselves out to help a fellow person in a time
of need, for nothing more that the warm feeling we get by doing a good deed.
Regards,
Avery Marder
Best Wishes for a great New Year
FMDAC/Northeast Chapter
John Howard-President Mark Schuessler-Vice President
Ken Gudernatch- Treasurer
