v
Alii Bradshaw — THE BATTALION
Former student reunited Longhorn recovers former
with ring 17years later student’s Aggie ring
f I 1 here have been countless stories of
Aggies losing their rings in the past,
JL but rarely has there been a story of
an Aggie losing his ring more than once.
Stu Arledge, Class of 1986, had three
Aggie Rings within the span of seven
years.
“My first ring was stolen during a total
rampage robbery at my home and I ended
up misplacing my second ring,” Arledge
said.
Soon enough, Arledge replaced his
last ring just in time for his 1993 move
to Waco, Texas. He and some friends
had gone to Waco’s Cottonwood Golf
Course. Arledge removed his ring and set
it on the green before playing, “just to
be safe.”
“Ironically, it was then I lost my new
ring,” Arledge said. “I went home to real
ize it was gone and when I returned to the
golf course the next day it wasn’t there. I
couldn’t think of anywhere else it would
rather be.”
Arledge decided he Was done with Ag
gie Rings forever.
“I had given up and decided I was just
not destined to have a ring,” Arledge
adds. “Three strikes and I’m out.”
Seventeen years later, in 2010, Arledge
had relocated in Fort Worth, Texas and
was in the middle of an important busi
ness meeting when a woman from Riesel,
Texas, called.
“This woman starts asking me a lot of
questions about my life and where I’m
from,” Arledge said. “Some questions
were just so personal that I had to stop
her and ask, ‘What’s going on?’ It was ob
viously not a business call.”
The woman turned out to be Jane
Kristen, a former student and employee
of Riesel Foster Elementary School. She
asked Arledge if he went to Texas A&M,
to which he responded, “Yes, in 1996.”
“The next thing she asks is if I lost my
Aggie Ring ... and my heart just stops,”
Arledge said.
Arledge said he told Kristen he lost his
ring a long time ago. Kristen responded
by telling Arledge a fifth-grader in her
school, Oreen Rosas, had recovered an
Aggie Ring in her grandfather’s backyard
in Hewitt. Rosas knew her school’s prin
cipal was an Aggie, so she decided to take
the ring back with her. The school traced
the Aggie Ring to Arledge and contacted
him immediately.
“The phone call was a total shock and
I nearly fell out of my chair,” Arledge
said. “People in the office began to worry
about me because I wouldn’t stop jump
ing up and down and screaming.”
Arledge said has no idea how his ring
ended up in Hewitt, but he immediate
ly identified it as the ring he lost on the
Waco golf course.
“[Kristen] offered to mail the ring to
my address and I told her, ‘Hell no! I’m
getting in my car right now,”’ Arledge
said.
The event received widespread atten
tion and was even documented by the
town’s local news station.
“I met the little girl [Rosas], bought
her a teddy bear and said thank you very
much,” Arledge said. “The whole event
was surreal and I love talking about it. To
be reunited with my ring after 17 years is
something else.”
Arledge said after the chain of events,
he does not wear his ring anymore.
“My dad passed away 11 years ago and
I have his ring and my ring displayed on
a mantel at home,” Arledge said. “I don’t
wear it because I don’t want to lose it
again.”
Arledge said he commends the Aggie
network for knowing exacdy the steps to
take when a lost ring is recovered.
“How great is it that an Aggie found
my ring and knew exactly what to do,
exactly how to contact me?” Arledge said.
“Who knows where my other two rings
are? But I know they were certainly not
recovered by an Aggie.”
f I Ihe Aggie Ring is more than a piece
of jewelry; it is a celebration of aca-
JL demic achievements, a symbol of
pride and an admittance into the Aggie net
work. Losing the Aggie Ring is heartbreak
ing, as Louis Smien, Class of 1988, knows.
During the past Thanksgiving, Louis
traveled from College Station to Dallas to
take care of business responsibilities while
his family was visiting relatives. Smith
stayed at Dallas’ Anatole Hotel, where he
believed to have last seen his ring.
Damen Smien, Class of 2014 and Louis’
son, said his father only removed his Aggie
Ring when he was going to sleep or taking
a shower.
“The night before my dad left Dallas, he
left his ring in the hotel safe,” Damen said.
“By the time we all realized it was missing,
we had all gone back home.”
The Smiens called the Anatole hotel
numerous times to inquire about a lost,
golden ring. The hotel staff said they had
not found it.
“My father was devastated,” Damen
said. “He had held that ring for 26 years.”
Having lost the ring in a large city and at
one of the most frequented hotel by non-
Texans, Louis was sure the ring was gone
for good, Damen said.
Louis was convinced his ring would
have been stolen or pawned off. Months
passed and he lost hope, eventually con
sidering buying a new Aggie Ring. Then
tragedy struck the Smien family again.
“In Febmary, my grandfather passed
away after a long and healthy 88 years,”
Damen said. “Although never an attendee,
he was the proudest Aggie dad and grand
father a person could ask for.”
Louis neglected work responsibilities
and checking emails due to having so much
on his mind. A few days passed and after re
turning to normalcy, he checked his email
and had a message from an unknown ad
dress. For Louis, the message was a blessing
during a most difficult time:
A friend of mine has found your Aggie Ring.
Louis Smien, Class of 1988, had his
ring returned to him after he lost it in
a hotel.
Give me a call. Signed, Scott Eberhart ’74.
“Initially, my father wanted to surprise
us with the news,” Damen said. “But we
figured out immediately because among
everything that was going on, he had been
smiling a little more than usual.”
A Longhorn pilot had retrieved the ring
while at the Anatole Hotel and had im
mediately called his closest Aggie friend,
Eberhart, to share the news. Eberhart then
contacted the Association of Former Stu
dents to collect Louis’ contact information.
“It’s unbelievable how strong the Texas
A&M community is while you’re a student
and even after you graduate,” Damen said.
“This incidence goes to show even those
outside the Aggie network knows the ring
signifies. Even a Longhorn took the time
out to find our family and return the ring,”
Kathryn Greenwade, vice president of
the Association of Former Students and
Class of 1988, said the Aggie spirit signi
fies a strong sense of community to anyone
who is familiar with it.
“You don’t find something like this at
other schools,” Greenwade said.
Memorial Ring Collection honors fallen Aggies
Shelby Knowles —THE BATTALION
The ring of Jeremy Frampton, who died in the Bonfire
Collapse, represents the Class of 1999 in the Memorial Ring
Collection.
By Sam Scott
On January 15, 1970, J.B. “Josh”
Sterns, Class of 1899, presented
his collection of Aggie Rings to the
Association of Former Students. Lo
cated in the Clayton W. Williams Jr.
Alumni Center, the collection pro
vides a history of rings spanning from
the Class of 1891 to the Class of 1964,
each year represented by one ring.
Carrying on this tradition, the
Alumni Center houses the Memorial
Ring Collection. Picking up where
Stems left off and continuing to re
cent years, families of deceased Aggies
have donated the rings of their loved
ones to memorialize their spirits and
represent their respective classes.
Although nearly 50 classes are
represented in the Memorial Collec
tion, each year has a unique story to
tell. The Class of 1995, for example,
has two rings that represent the class,
those of Gena and Joel Johnson — a
young couple killed in a car wreck
their final semester at Texas A&M.
The ring that represents the Class
of 1999 reminds onlookers of another
campus tragedy. The ring donated by
the family of Jeremy Frampton was
worn by one of the 12 Aggies killed
in the Bonfire Collapse.
Connor McCasland, the latest ad
dition to the Memorial Collection,
will represent the Class of 2015.
McCasland, who died last June, was
about to start his senior year at A&M
as a food science and technology ma
jor.
A member of the Fightin’ Texas
Aggie Band and the A-Battery out
fit, McCasland was described by his
friends and family as having a larger-
than-life personahty.
Casey Hodgson, one of Mc-
Casland’s Corps and band friends,
said Connor was always open for a
conversation and always wanted to
have a good time.
“He was just always so nice to ev
erybody, and he was there to help
you whenever you needed any
thing,” Hodgson said. “There were
times whenever I would need help
with something and he would just
drop what he was doing to help me
out.”
Now McCasland’s Aggie Ring,
his story and his enthusiasm will con
tinue to be a source of inspiration for
all — McCasland’s ring will be dedi
cated to the Memorial Collection on
Wednesday.
Kathryn Greenwade, vice presi
dent of the Association of Former
Students, said each addition to the
Memorial Collection involves a wor
thy Aggie to represent their class.
“The individuals in that ring col
lection, when you learn their stories,
it’s like, ‘What a great person to be
representing that class? How proud
can .that class be that that individual
represents them?” Greenwade said.
Another captivating story lies
behind the ring recently dedicated
to the Memorial in August 2014.
Representing the Class of 2010, Lisa
Ramirez fought a battle against pul
monary hypertension for six years be
fore her death. Even though she was
diagnosed with the disease early on in
her time at A&M, Ramirez was able
to graduate with a degree in agricul
tural leadership and development.
Greenwade said the ring dedica
tion for Ramirez was particularly
special.
“When her ring was added to the
collection, before we put it in, the
family had Father David from St.
Mary’s here and he blessed the ring
with water from the Jordan River,”
Greenwade said.