OCEAN CITY – A day spent playing in the sand unearthed a unique treasure for one Prince Frederick family visiting Ocean City last week.
Last Tuesday, Josh and Jennifer Suchter and their five children were enjoying a day at the beach, digging in the sand in front of their 71st Street condo, when the kids came across a buried bucket.
Jennifer Suchter said her children were surprised to find a treasure trove of toys and goodies, with three postcards dating back to August of 2007.
“My three sons and two daughters were outside digging a stream in front of the condo when my oldest hit something hard in the sand,” she said. “He got all excited and then all of the kids decided to join in on digging it up … They were just so pumped. They thought it was treasure.”
Buried under roughly a foot in the sand, she said, was a small, white bucket with a skull and crossbones painted on the lid. Inside, they found an assortment of glass marbles, barrettes, seashells and army men, as well as a small kite, coloring book and crayons.
“My mom was there at the time and filmed the whole thing,” Suchter said. “They opened it up and it had all of these treasures.”
Suchter added that the bucket also included three postcards dated Aug. 30, 2007, with messages that read “Hi! We buried our treasure for you to find,” “Please let us know when you find our treasure,” and “Our treasure now belongs to you. Enjoy!” She said the postcards included the names of Kieran and Jemiah Boes of Portland, Ore., and Brennon Belding of Waterford, N.Y.
“We tried to look them up online,” she said. “We also plan to write notes to those addresses in hopes that they still live there.”
But Suchter said her family’s efforts don’t stop there.
They have also replenished the “treasure chest” with toys and other knickknacks and reburied it in the sand.
“Hopefully it won’t take another 16 years for another family to find it,” she joked. “We also wrote a note to keep the tradition going and bury your own treasure.”
The Suchters, who reside in Prince Frederick, Md., said the once-in-a-lifetime discovery made their yearly vacation to Ocean City all the more special.
While the family has visited Ocean City the past 12 years, Jennifer said this trip will stand out amongst the rest.
“It was one of those core memories we will be talking about 20 years down the road,” she said.
