But after picking up a kettle from outside the Walmart in Selma, Kettle Coordinator Peggy Pauley was shocked to find a very nice ring mixed in with the donations. She said, "I would say a very old ring, an heirloom ring."
That is the only description Pauley will offer because she wants to make sure it wasn't an accidental donation. Pauley worries someone might be looking for the ring. She said, "You know sometimes women take their rings off to wash their hands and so they could just put their ring in their pocket and didn't realize it was there and dumped it all in the kettle."
For that reason the ring is being kept at the Selma Police Department, on layaway if you will.
Chief Myron Dyck said, "We will hold onto it for 90 days and at the end of that time, the Salvation Army can claim it and have appraised and sell it or do whatever.
Police Chief Myron Dyck hopes someone was just making a generous donation.
Perhaps it's become a Christmas tradition. A year ago someone also dropped a ring into a Salvation Army kettle in Kingsburg.
Pauley shared the same thought. She said, "Lo and behold I just dumped all the cash out and there was another ring and I thought wow, another ring. This is two years in a row for me."
In years past diamond rings have also been discovered in kettles in Washington and Florida.
The Salvation Army ultimately raised $120.00 when it sold the Tiffany ring found in Kingsburg last year.
