NEWBURYPORT — Seventy-nine years ago, a local girl graduated from Newburyport High School most likely proudly wearing her 1933 class ring on her finger.
But over the decades, that ring was misplaced, finding its way to the “lost and found” box kept for years in the office of Port Wine and Spirits on Storey Avenue in Newburyport. Now, decades after it was worn, the store’s employees are trying to return it to its owner or her descendants.
“It’s a family heirloom; it doesn’t belong to us,” Port Wine and Spirits clerk Diane Torpey said. “We think it would be nice to get back your mother’s or grandmother’s class ring.”
Torpey said the ring was found in the box while employees were recently cleaning out the store’s office. The initials PB are engraved on the interior of the band. With that clue, Torpey took it back to Newburyport High School, left it for a bit and then learned some helpful information.
“I got a call from the high school from a woman who said the ring probably belonged to Priscilla Bradford,” Torpey said. “She was the only girl with the initials PB in the Newburyport High School class of 1933. She’d be 97 years old today.”
Port Wine and Spirit staff are hoping Bradford still has family in the area. They assume she may have married, which would have changed her last name, and had children and grandchildren.
Of course, the best result would be if Priscilla Bradford is still living in the region, so she can get her high school ring back, after all these years.
Torpey and her colleagues reached out to The Daily News for help spreading the word in hopes of returning the ring to the woman who once owned it or to those who loved her. If you have information about the ring’s owner, contact Port Wine and Spirits at 978-463-2077.
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