NORTON SHORES, Mich. — Summer 1987, a Mona Shores freshman was swimming in Lake Michigan and lost his wallet.
The wallet — and its contents — lost forever, right? Wrong. Two weeks ago — a shocking discovery by a father and son — way north of here.
This Mona Shores ID card has seen a lot — though no one has see it for the last 37 years.
The owner of the ID card, Jason Balgooyen, said, “I have never heard of anything going north. I thought it always went south, so that was really weird.”
The ID card traveled from the Mona Lake Channel to Waugoshance Island — 180 miles.
Brent Tompkins and his son were walking along the coast of the island when they discovered this piece of Mona Shores history. Tompkins remarked, "It said Mona Shores Junior High — and then grade 9. I saw the last name on it.”
This came as a shock to Balgooyen. All these years later, he forgot all about it.
Describing the day he lost his ID card, Balgooyen tells me, “There’s always waves you don’t expect — so it goes from waist deep water to chest deep water in about two seconds.”
When a wave hit, “I didn’t realize I had my wallet in my back pocket, and I realized later that it was gone,” Balgooyen said.
At the time — all Balgooyen cared about was the money in his wallet. He said, “I think I had something like $30 in my wallet, which — when you’re 16 — is a ton of money. I was pretty devastated.”
Luckily, the next day, "I found all the money in about two feet of water in the same spot — scattered about 20 to 30 yards in the water," Balgooyen said. "I found all the money so I felt better about it, but I couldn’t find a sign of the wallet.”
It just so happened that he would see it again 37 years later — now living in Texas.
Balgooyen says he does not want the ID card back — its discovery is enough for him. Tompkins says he plans to frame it and hang it on the wall inside the White Schoal Lighthouse — which is close to where the ID was found.
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