For metal-detector enthusiasts Ted Baker (from left), John Groff and George Butler, members of the Lancaster Research & Recovery Club, the hobby is a lot about the thrill of the hunt.
Bounty from metal detecting includes jewelry, coins and war relics.
George Hickman unearthed a Civil War-era silver pocket watch.
But it's not always the bounty - whether it be pull tabs or pennies, or even evidence in criminal cases - that keeps these detectors on the trail of treasure.
It's not always the bounty - whether it be pull tabs or pennies, or even evidence in criminal cases - that keeps these detectors on the trail of treasure.
Waving their metal detectors over the ground like magic wands, the members of the Lancaster Research & Recovery Club turn lost into found.
Leon and Leona Ogden have dug up more than 400 rings and thousands of coins.
George Hickman unearthed a Civil War-era silver pocket watch and antique toy soldier.
And Paul Means has discovered handfuls of jewelry lost in the surf.
Sometimes, though, when club members put their beeping metal divining rods into service, the only result is soda-can pull tabs.
But even they have value to a seasoned searcher.
The club donates pull tabs to the Ronald McDonald House, which takes the tabs to a recycling center as a fundraising project.
But it's not always the bounty — whether it be pull tabs or pennies, or even evidence in criminal cases — that keeps these detectors on the trail of treasure.
"It's the thrill of the hunt," member Mike Race explains.
That hunt takes perseverance. Members may find thousands of junk items before finding a keeper.
On Sunday, March 8, the club invites new metal-detecting hobbyists to a Metal Detecting 101 class, at Lancaster County Central Park.
"We pass out magazines on the hobby, have displays on finds, literature on the dos and don'ts and some information on the legalities involved," says Susan Race, club president.
Attendees are asked to bring their detectors — which can range in price from under $100 to several thousand dollars — to learn proper operating and digging techniques.
Also on the agenda?
Swapping stories.
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Metal-detector enthusiasts have plenty of "fish" stories, Mrs. Race says.
They love to tell tales about their finds, about returning lost property, such as class rings, to grateful owners — and even helping police solve crimes.
The club started in 1981, after a handful of people responded to a newspaper notice about forming a group — initially called the Lancaster Treasure Hunter & Coinshooters' Club.
There are now around 130 members, and 20 are age 12 and under, Mrs. Race says. Some members come from surrounding counties or even further, but an eagerness to comb land and water for assorted booty is a common denominator.
"It's recovery of what would be lost forever," says member Betty Hambleton.
The club is under the umbrella of the Federation of Metal Detector & Archeological Clubs, which has chapters in most states, including a handful in Pennsylvania.
According to federation treasurer Dave Perry, based in Indiana, the hobby is gaining ground.
"We're getting a lot more children and grandchildren involved," he says. "We're seeing a lot of baby boomers retiring and looking for something to do on the beach."
In addition to promoting the hobby, the nonprofit federation outlines a strict code of ethics for hunters, in spite of the fact that some parks are pulling the plug on metal detection, Perry says.
Hunters must have permission to search and cannot use a metal detector on the national seashore, in federal parks and in some state parks, and on historical sites designated by the U.S. Forest Service.
"Some are archeological sites and in accordance with the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 these are and should be off-limits," Mrs. Race says.
In Lancaster, city parks aren't sanctioned, but detectors have a green light in most areas of county parks.
Beyond hunts and demos, clubs nationwide have done everything from aircraft accident investigation to helping homeowners locate valuables after earthquakes and fires.
When Donald Trump's helicopter crashed in a New Jersey swamp in 1989, killing three of his top executives, local club members helped police locate small pieces of metal from the crash.
In addition, county detectorists once found weapons used in a robbery, shortly after the crime.
"Police will call us to find casings, stolen property, guns thrown out in the field," Mrs. Race says.
And if it's a pending case, she says, the items may come up, but members agree to keep the details underground.
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In 1976, Susan Race gave her husband a detector.
Today he has 13.
It wasn't long before she was hooked, too, finding a gold wedding band on one of her very first hunts.
The New Holland couple have metal-detected around the world.
Race has helped people find lost jewelry and keys, and once he even kept a young boy from losing his life.
While stationed in the Air Force and detecting in water in Berlin, he helped pull the drowning youngster to safety.
You probably won't get rich as a metal-detector hobbyist, Race says. Many metal hunters don't sell their finds, preferring to collect them, even though they may be valuable.
Some members have found rings worth several hundred dollars, as well as rare coins.
But the hobby is rich in other ways, Race says.
It's about camaraderie.
"We're one big family."
And the family that detects together, stays together.
METAL DETECTING CLUB
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