Last August, Alex Mahlum, a paper carrier for the Daily Star found a wedding ring lying on the tarmac of Grove Street, just north of the intersection of Maple and Grove Streets.

Alex, 15, and his brother, Zachary, 13, sent notices to all their customers, asking them if they had lost a ring or knew of someone who did.

The boys said they also notified the police about the ring and asked if anyone had reported one missing. However, the police said they had no record of a missing ring.

Alex and Zachary said nobody has claimed the ring yet either.

"We're just hoping someone claims [the ring]," Alex said.

"While the monetary value of the ring is low," the boys' father, long-time Cooperstown resident Stephen Mahlum, "its sentimental value is priceless. If I were to lose something of that kind of value, I would want it back."

The ring has initials imprinted on the inside of it, the boys' mother, Ellen Morris, said. She did not want to disclose what the initials are in hopes that they can be used to identify the ring by the owner.

If the ring is not claimed by the spring, Alex said he will turn the search into a community service project for one of his classes at Cooperstown Central School. He plans to search the village's marriage records in hopes to find a couple who was married on that date engraved inside the ring, June 30, 1957.

The boys deliver papers to their 74 customers six days a week, each taking half the route. They have shared the paper route since March.

To claim the ring or to help the Mahlums find the ring's rightful owner, contact Stephen at 547-2517.