Terry has lived in Whitewater since 1995. He collects bottles from the old town dump off Franklin Street. He goes off and on and much of it is private property now, but Rick Fassl's property is part of the old town dump and is a good site for artifacts. Also the creek alongside the old Klinger Brewery (off of Jefferson) is also a good site.

He has found an H.G. O'Connor bottle from the early 1900s. In the dump area he has found Sand Rock bottles from the Sand Rock beverage company (soda); Terry thinks they had a bottling place up near where Floral Villa is now. He has also found Whitewater Brewery bottles. His personal pride and joy are the H.R. Melster bottle, are related to his great-uncle Hermann Randolph Melster. He brewed Weiss bier and soda; he brewed from 1891 to 1910. He lived next towhere the old armory is on the north and had his brewing operations over on George Street. This Melster family is related to the Melster family in Cambridge that makes candy.

Besides bottles, Terry has found an A.G. Anderson & Son clothier button from the 1840s. Also various coins and other artifacts. He found some civil war tokens at Cold Spring; one has a date on it of 1863. He recently found a 1910 penny on a hill at Starin Park.

Terry worked at various machine shops around the area over the years, including Husco International. He's been metal detecting for years and belonged to several clubs in California, where he lived for 20 years, including the Prospector's Club of Southern California. He also belonged the Verdougo Hills Gem and Mineral Society, holding the offices of Field Trip Chairman and Vice-President. He likes being in the out-of-doors and recovering history.


Terry metal detecting at Malibu Beach in California