The Mystery Of The (No Longer) Missing Bowling Pins!

   A few days ago, I made mention over in Ragged Cap Runner about this pretty random discovery a guy I know had made in an alleyway in downtown London and I thought I would do a bit of an update. He had come across  a cardboard box full of regulation bowling pins, seemingly put out as garbage, and had taken them home and left them in his shed.

Strange discovery!

   I happened to notice this box of bowling pins while doing some work in the shed and, upon further inspection, discovered that each pin had been signed by this year's version of the London Knights. This year's version of the London Knights also happens to be the Memorial Cup winners (for all intents and purposes making them the best junior hockey team in the world) and it was not hard for me, as a sports fan, to recognize the value of what I was looking at. My friend, on the other hand, is not a sports fan and hadn't even looked at the pins all that closely.
   I managed to convince him that it was very likely that the pins had been left there by accident and that the Knights would probably be interested in getting them back. I asked him if I could take the pins with me and he said that was okay with him.

Ryan Starr and, behind him,  Budweiser Gardens,
home of the London Knights!

   When I got home, I sent an e-mail off to the Knights explaining what I had in  my possession. A couple of days later, I received a reply from the team saying they would be very happy to have the pins returned and, in fact, had been looking for them. I ended up speaking with Ryan Starr, the Knight's Public Relations and Communications Manager, and we agreed to meet downtown at Budweiser Gardens. When we met, Ryan explained to me that they used the pins as special occasion gifts to minor hockey teams and players here in London. Together, we were unable to imagine any possible way they might have ended up in a alleyway downtown but the main thing was that they were now back where they belonged. As a token of gratitude for ensuring that the pins made it back home, Ryan more than graciously offered me free game tickets for the Knights when the next season starts! Pretty cool! I work for an agency which provides support services to people with developmental challenges and have already spoken to the powers that be at work about donating them.
   All in all, if you're a Knights fan, kind of a cool mystery with a happy ending!