Facebook posting reunites Southold grad, high school ring
Dan Olsen shows off his 1999 class ring with his son Dylan, 16, who is getting ready to order his own class ring in Virginia. The ring was stolen 15 years ago, but workers at La Cascada in Southold recently found it and used Facebook to connect it with Olsen, a Southold High School graduate. Credit: Tammy Harvey
The late 1990s were tough on Dan Olsen’s family.
His mother had cancer and money was tight — yet his parents scraped together $550 so Olsen, then a student at Southold High School, could buy a class ring.
Olsen, who graduated in 1999, cherished it until it disappeared along with his wedding ring and watch 15 years ago during a party at his Flanders home.
But thanks to a Southold restaurant and a social media campaign, the class ring is back in Olsen’s hands.
“I never thought I’d see it again,” said Olsen, 35, chief operating officer of a funeral home in Mechanicsville, Virginia.
La Cascada restaurant employees told the Suffolk Times they spotted the ring on a table after closing one night. Several months later, after no one had returned to pick up the ring from the restaurant’s lost-and-found, employees reached out to the paper.
On Feb. 24, the Times posted a photo of the ring on its Facebook page, but withheld the graduation year so the restaurant could verify the rightful owner. About 600 people shared the post.
Olsen woke up early last Thursday and was scrolling through Facebook when he saw that two high school friends were spreading the word. The ring features a blue zircon gemstone and “Sagittarius” and “Daniel” etched on the 10 karat gold band.
“It looked like mine,” he said. “I called the restaurant owner and sure enough, it was a 1999 graduation ring.”
La Cascada owner Jorge Torrento was not available for comment Tuesday.
Fifteen years ago, Olsen said he and his wife had a birthday party for their young son at their home, and he took off the jewelry to wash dishes during the party. Not only was the braided wedding ring gone when he finished, but also the class ring and a watch handed down from his grandfather.
Olsen never filed a police report, hoping that whoever took the valuables would return them. But the family later moved to Virginia, and he gave up any hope of ever seeing the items again.
The return of the class ring was an unexpected delight.
“I was really in disbelief,” he said. “I was curious about how it got there.”
He hasn’t visited New York in eight years, and has never set foot in La Cascada. One of the friends who shared the post picked up the ring and mailed it to him last week.
His mother was thrilled to hear of the ring’s return, Olsen said, adding that it couldn’t have come at a better time: His son Dylan, 16, a high school sophomore, is getting ready to order his own class ring.
Olsen said he proudly showed his ring to his son after it arrived Saturday — then headed to a jewelry store to get it resized.
“Now that I got it back, I’m going to wear it,” he said.
