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Oakland 6th-graders find treasure in Lake Merritt
San Francisco Chronicle / SFGate.com ^ | Friday, March 30, 2012 | Vivian Ho

Posted on 03/30/2012 9:29:55 AM PDT by thecodont

They weren't seeking sunken treasure, but that's what some sixth-graders from St. Paul's Episcopal School found Thursday submerged in a few feet of water in Oakland's Lake Merritt.

A student was scooping up trash with a long net from the shore near Grand and Harrison streets when she spotted two bags about the size of reusable grocery totes sitting in about 2 feet of water, said Richard Bailey, executive director of the Lake Merritt Institute.

The bags were heavy and she couldn't scoop them up, Bailey said, so he waded out in hip boots and pulled them to shore.

The canvas bags weighed about 15 pounds each and made a lot of clinking as they moved, Bailey said. The students, excited to see what sort of booty was inside, crowded around their find.

When they opened the bags, the group erupted in thrilled shrieks.

It was a real treasure: rings, necklaces, brooches, bracelets, candlesticks, coins, medallions and silverware filled each bag.

It was by far the most memorable discovery the group has made at the lake while helping to clean it as part of a weekly service learning and science project, school officials said. The school's sixth-grade students have worked at Lake Merritt once a week for about 15 years.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/29/BANQ1NSA1S.DTL#ixzz1qcONqTgK

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: lakemerritt; oaklandca; stolenproperty
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To: thecodont

Captain GeronL “Aye... so there is where I put my treasure”


21 posted on 03/30/2012 10:19:20 AM PDT by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Pursue Happiness)
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To: thecodont

The government of Spain has filed for return of their assets. /s


22 posted on 03/30/2012 10:21:44 AM PDT by exit82 (Democrats are the enemies of freedom. Be Andrew Breitbart.)
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To: thecodont
The Lake Merritt Institute has been cleaning the lake for about 20 years,

Can't those watermelons ever finish a job?

23 posted on 03/30/2012 10:23:56 AM PDT by exit82 (Democrats are the enemies of freedom. Be Andrew Breitbart.)
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To: exit82
Can't those watermelons ever finish a job?

As long as people keep tossing stuff in it, no.

The urban attitude towards a body of water (creek, pond, lake) is that it's a garbage dump.

24 posted on 03/30/2012 10:25:57 AM PDT by thecodont
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To: Jack Hydrazine
Still no Jimmy Hoffa.

I found his class ring in a can of Alpo!

Regards,
GtG

25 posted on 03/30/2012 10:30:41 AM PDT by Gandalf_The_Gray (I live in my own little world, I like it 'cuz they know me here.)
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To: silverleaf
or drowned puppies.

Ugh, flashback time. Learn from me. Never open a bag with blood running out of it.

26 posted on 03/30/2012 10:31:01 AM PDT by jboot
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To: ThirdMate

My kids were under the same requirement their senior year.

One of my daughters volunteered down at the pro-life unwed mother shelter here in town.

The lady running it also wrote her a nice recommendation to go with her college application.


27 posted on 03/30/2012 10:31:36 AM PDT by PeteB570 ( Islam is the sea in which the Terrorist Shark swims. The deeper the sea the larger the shark.)
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To: thecodont

28 posted on 03/30/2012 10:46:45 AM PDT by patriot08 (TEXAS GAL- born and bred and proud of it!)
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To: Carry_Okie

Thanks Carry, I may be more than a “bit paranoid”!


29 posted on 03/30/2012 11:01:40 AM PDT by ThirdMate
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To: PeteB570

After some searching we too found an acceptable alternative for completing the requirement.


30 posted on 03/30/2012 11:04:18 AM PDT by ThirdMate
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To: thecodont
One of the bags had "Wells Fargo" stamped on it, which led Bailey to believe that the items had been stolen.

Ya think?!? Real smart there having kids go out to pick up trash when who knows what they'll come in contact with - drugs, used condoms, needles, etc. Imagine if the bad guy who hid that stuff was still around and didn't take kindly to them snooping around and taking it. The school and parents once again haven't thought this though.

31 posted on 03/30/2012 11:15:44 AM PDT by bgill
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To: Bigg Red

I live in the country and I still get trash in the yard. This week alone I found one ketchup packet, two straws, two bottle tops, a piece of knotted rope and several other pieces of plastic and paper.


32 posted on 03/30/2012 11:21:24 AM PDT by bgill
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To: Carry_Okie
I think he is basically objecting to the “compulsory volunteer work” that many schools now impose upon students.

Other than being an oxymoronic idea, the usual volunteer work that is accepted by the school is related to “volunteering” to perform menial tasks for the county/city, or volunteer for left-leaning organizations.

Where I am, Boy Scouts duties don't count. Civil Air Patrol service doesn't count either. Neither does volunteering at small or large business.

33 posted on 03/30/2012 11:49:38 AM PDT by Hulka
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To: thecodont

I used to live there! It has always been a target.


34 posted on 03/30/2012 12:12:48 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: ThirdMate

Check your FR-mail for some ideas.


35 posted on 03/30/2012 12:17:17 PM PDT by bgill
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To: Vendome

you mus hab a dogree in Ebonisc!!


36 posted on 03/30/2012 12:18:15 PM PDT by dennisw (A nation of sheep breeds a government of Democrat wolves!)
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To: Carry_Okie; ThirdMate; All

Note that this is a private school (St. Paul’s — probably Episcopal, although I’m not sure).

My sons attended a Jesuit run college prep school in Houston, and they had a community service requirement that meshed with their school motto — “Men for others”. This was back in the late 1970s. I had never heard of a requirement like this in public school, although I see that lots of schools — public and private — now have similar requirements.

When my sons were at Jesuit many of their classmates fulfilled their service requirement by traveling to South America (with chaperones) and spending the summer in primitive villages giving immunizations to poor children (those were the kids who were on a career path in medicine.) My sons were track and cross country athletes and were required to train every day, 365 days a year. We moved before the younger son did his community service requirement, but my older son fulfilled his by helping out at Head Start programs giving reading readiness tests to inner city kids. He loved it.

So, not all community service work has to be menial tasks.


37 posted on 03/30/2012 12:31:02 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: dennisw

Sho Nuff!


38 posted on 03/30/2012 12:41:20 PM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: Hulka
I think he is basically objecting to the “compulsory volunteer work” that many schools now impose upon students.

Parents do the same thing, and yes, it's sometimes compulsory.

Where I am, Boy Scouts duties don't count. Civil Air Patrol service doesn't count either. Neither does volunteering at small or large business.

That's a different problem.

39 posted on 03/30/2012 12:43:03 PM PDT by Carry_Okie (GunWalker: Arming "a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as well funded")
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To: afraidfortherepublic
When my sons were at Jesuit many of their classmates fulfilled their service requirement by traveling to South America (with chaperones) and spending the summer in primitive villages giving immunizations to poor children (those were the kids who were on a career path in medicine.)

My guess is that there is a considerable difference in expense, nor would anyone assume the liability a child to perform such a task here. I was teaching remedial reading as a teen.

40 posted on 03/30/2012 12:46:00 PM PDT by Carry_Okie (GunWalker: Arming "a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as well funded")
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