2024 Central Texas Treasure Club Treasure Hunter of the Year Winners!

 2024 Central Texas Treasure Hunter of the Year Awards!

At last Wednesday's CTTC Christmas Party, the winners of the 2024 Treasure Hunter of the Year competition were announced and awarded. They are as follows:

2024 CTTC Treasure Hunter of the Year - Tommy Faught

1st Runner-Up - John Meeks

2nd Runner-Up - Jay Longley

3rd Runner-Up - Caiden Tyler

*** Overall Best Finds of the Year - Tommy Faught

The race for our 2025 Treasure Hunter of the Year has begun! Winners are based on the total number of points each Member has collected from our monthly Finds of the Month Contests. Each Member can participate by bringing your best metal detected finds, for the previous month, to the monthly meetings and entering one of them in the appropriate category. There are 4 categories - Coins, Jewelry & Precious Metals, Relics, and Most Unusual. Then, everyone present gets an opportunity to vote on which finds they think are the best in each category. Votes are then tabulated and the winners of each category are announced. Our next CTTC monthly meeting is Tuesday, January 7th.

So get out there and start competing!

 

CTTC Annual Christmas Party - Wednesday, December 11th!

 Annual Central Texas Treasure Club's Members & Families-Only Christmas Party!

· Jen made arrangements for this year’s Central Texas Treasure Club’s Christmas Party at The Section Hand Steakhouse. It will begin at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 11th. We will have the traditional Gift Exchange so everyone needs to bring a wrapped gift valued at between $15 to $20.

 

Metal Detecting Tip That Will Increase Your Good Finds

 1 – When you find a good target like a coin or piece of jewelry, ALWAYS be sure to run your coil back over the hole once you’ve retrieved the target.  Then, work the area in a circular pattern around the original hole for a distance of about 3 feet in every direction.  If you don’t do this already, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how your better finds start to increase.  Many times, when someone loses one coin or valuable, they’ll lose more along with it.  That’s especially true for coins but also applies to jewelry.  A few years ago, that’s how I made one of my most valuable and rare metal detecting finds – a World War II Army Tank Destroyers sterling silver bracelet at a park that used to be a very popular baseball field during the War when Brownwood was home to Camp Bowie – the largest Army training base in Texas during those years.  I was using my Garrett Ace 250 at the park when I got a good signal.  I dug down 4” with my 3-in-1 Digging Knife and out popped a mysterious emblem with a hellcat crunching down on a tank with his jaws.  On it was the motto – “Seek, Strike, Destroy”.  I was baffled at what it could be.  My first thought was it represented a modern video game or something.  As I always do, I detected in a 3-foot circle around the target’s location.  I got another good signal about 2 feet from the original spot.  Again, I dug down about 4” and out came the answer to my question – a complete steling bracelet that fit perfectly onto the top piece!  I still didn’t know what it represented until I got home and searched for “Seek, Strike, Destroy” and quickly learned that it was a bracelet worn by a soldier of the Army Tank Destroyers Battalion.  I’ve searched and searched over the years since and haven’t found another like it.  Apparently, it was worn by a Camp Bowie soldier who was training with the Tank Destroyers.  He probably attended a baseball game at the old field and in the excitement, the bracelet detached from the top piece and fell from his wrist, to be lost for the next 70 or so years until I came along with my Acey and found it!

 

CTTC Monthly Meeting Tonight - Tuesday, December 3rd!

 The Regular Monthly Meeting of our Central Texas Treasure Club will be held tonight, Tuesday, December 3rd, at 6:30 p.m. at the old Early Chamber of Commerce Bldg. at 104 E. Industrial Blvd. in Early, Texas.  Visitors are always invited and encouraged to attend.  Our Club meets on the first Tuesday of every month.

Hope to see you there!

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club

Evening the Numbers for 2025 Old School vs New Tech Competition

 

I think everyone who attended last Saturday’s Central Texas Treasure Club’s Old School vs New Tech Competition had fun.  The only complaint I heard was that we need to even out the numbers on each team.  As in recent years, the New Tech Team greatly outnumbered our Old School Team.  This year, it was 13-5 in favor of NT.  As a result, I’ve come up with a couple of ways to do this.  One is that we limit each team to 8 or 10 members.  To do that, we need more members to acquire discontinued vintage detectors that are 25 years old or older, learn to master them, and commit to join the Old School Team at the 2025 Competition.  The other part of the solution is the add a qualifier to members wanting to detect on the New Tech Team next year.  We will need to get firm commitments signed up by August, 2025 regarding those who will be participating and which Team you want to be on.  Those who want to be on the New Tech Team will need to qualify by getting enough total points in next year’s Finds of the Month Contests for September, October, and November to make the 8 or 10 person NT roster.  This will also increase participation in next year’s Finds of the Month Contest for our  2025 CTTC Treasure Hunter of the Year award.  

So, no matter which Team you want to be on next November, we all have work to do!   Using a vintage detector successfully is certainly not as easy as many newbies want you to believe.  You don’t just “turn them on and go.”  It takes many hours to master using one, just as it does to master using a new model.  

 

2024 CTTC Old School vs New Tech Competition - Saturday, November 23rd!

 

Annual Central Texas Treasure Club's 2024 Old School vs New Tech Competition Saturday, November 23rd! This is a dues-paid Members Only Event.

I created this annual Competition in 2018 when I was first elected Club President. It's been a big and fun success! The rules are simple. We divide into 2 Teams when we get to the secret hunt location, depending on the detector each Member is using that day. The Old School Team will use only vintage metal detectors that are at least 25 years old and are discontinued models. The New Tech Team will use modern detectors (any detector less than 25 years old).

Hunters need to be at Pat Coursey Park, at the corner of Center Avenue and East Baker Street in downtown Brownwood, BY 10:00 a.m. I will then give the location of the hunt site and we'll leave for the destination about 10:10. The hunt will last for 90 minutes. The standings for the past 6 years are: New Tech - 4 wins, Old School - 1 win, and 1 draw.

Join the Fun!

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club

 

Regular Monthly CTTC Meeting - Tuesday, November 5th!

 Next regular monthly meeting of our Central Texas Treasure Club will be Tuesday, November 5th (Election Day) at the old Early Chamber of Commerce Bldg. at 104 E. Industrial Blvd. in Early at 6:30 p.m. We don't charge to teach people how to metal detect.  Visitors are always welcome to attend!  Free refreshments!

Memberships:  $20 per year for Individuals, $25 per year for Families.

Jay Longley, President, Central Texas Treasure Club