Finders, keepers

By Staff
Boyer pencil finds way back home after being a "loaner" for 22 years
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
One of the red monogrammed lead pencils Linda Boyer purchased for her daughter Melissa and donated to Crestline Elementary School when she enrolled in kindergarten has found its way back home after 22 years in circulation as a "loaner" at Crestline and Barkley Bridge Elementary Schools.
The pencil turned up in the hands of Haley Grace Holmes, a second grader at Barkley Bridge, on Friday, Nov. 4. She is Linda's granddaughter and Melissa Boyer Cagle's niece.
Haley Grace said she chose the pencil from her classroom's "loaner" pencil box over about 50 others because she prefers the color red and it was the only red one she saw. The lead in the pencil was broken and it had to be sharpened. That's when she spotted the name "Melissa Boyer" embossed on one side and related her discovery to her teacher and later the same day to her grandmother.
"I had just had my 27th birthday when I found out about the pencil," Mrs. Cagle said. I was surprised that it has stayed around that long. What makes it seem even more unlikely is that it changed schools and wound up in the hands of my niece.
She said now that the pencil is back home it will be preserved as a family keepsake.