A routine bathroom repair at Carroll County Middle School turned into an unexpected trip down memory lane near the end of last school year.
CCMS School Resource Officer Tim Gividen, who is now retired, was working in his office when an employee of Hawkins Plumbing came to him with a wallet that was found in a wall access. Gividen said it looked pretty old and, when he looked inside, he immediately knew the owner.
It belonged to Bobbi Rogers Chatham, a former student at CCMS during the 1979–1980 school year and a relative of Gividen’s. “I called her and said, ‘This is going to sound odd, but we just found a wallet that belonged to you,’” Gividen said.
Inside the wallet were photographs, phone numbers, and Chatham’s very first Social Security card.
“It was a total shock because I don’t even remember losing a billfold, but it was definitely mine,” she said. “It had old family photos and old phone numbers. Everyone in the pictures has passed away, so it was nice to see their faces again.”
She recalled a school assignment that helped her pinpoint the origin of the Social Security card.
“In seventh grade, we had to take home economics, and one of the first things we did was fill out the paperwork to get our first Social Security card,” Chatham said. “It’s funny the little things you remember once you see something.”
The wallet was found in the girls’ main hallway bathroom, the same one Chatham used as a student more than four decades ago though many renovations have occurred since her days at CCMS.
She has since shared the story with several family members, including her twin grandchildren who currently attend CCMS. “I told them and their mom and dad, and they all got a big kick out of it,” she said.