MANSFIELD, Ohio – Bill Freytag, deputy director of the Richland County Board of Elections, is in search of a Good Samaritan – a local man who Freytag said restored his faith about good people within the community.
A few weeks ago while enjoying the 20th annual Heart of the City Cruise In in downtown Mansfield, Freytag lost his money clip. And after searching for a few days, he chalked it up to a lost cause and said he hoped the person who found it needed it more than he did.
However, a few days later on Aug. 25, with little confidence, Freytag called Downtown Mansfield Inc. just to make sure it wasn’t turned in.
“I think my conversation was, ‘I’m sure I know the answer to this, but did someone by chance happen to turn in a money clip?’” he said.
The woman on the other end of the line told him, in fact, someone had.
Freytag said he couldn’t believe it and went to pick it up the next day.
He ultimately was directed to two of the men who emceed the cruise-in – local radio personality Tommy Barnes and disc jockey Ed Gutchall – also known as Mr. Ed or Entertaining Ed.
After talking with the duo, Freytag discovered that the money clip was turned in by a “young man who is usually downtown whenever there are activities going on” – but neither Gutchall nor Barnes know his name.
“He’s downtown, I see him there all the time,” Gutchall said of the Good Samaritan. “He brought me a couple sets of keys [during the cruise-in] – he just finds stuff laying around, and he’d bring them up to me.
“I think maybe he thought that’s what he was doing to help out.”
Gutchall described him as an African-American man in his 20 or 30s.
“I’ve seen him around quite a bit – I mean I know the guy,” he said. “So if I saw him, I’d know.”
Additionally, Gutchall said he’s done some digging to find out the man’s name but has been thus far unsuccessful, adding that the believes the man often “hangs around” All Believers in Christ Church on N. Walnut St. in downtown Mansfield.
According to Freytag, the clip, which was found by the benches in Central Park, contained a significant amount of money, and he wants to thank and reward the man for his honesty.
“He restored the faith in me that there are good people out there that still do the right thing no matter what the situation is,” Freytag said. “With all the bad news in the world today, it was definitely nice to see that happen.”
Anyone with information can email news@richlandsource.com or bfreytag@richlandcountyoh.us.
“He restored the faith in me that there are good people out there that still do the right thing no matter what the situation is,” Bill Freytag said.
