A Burke Village hillside served as a playground for Graham Jolley, 9; Mohammed Sharif, 13; and other children who had played beside a rock for years until the fall of 2003, when curiosity got the best of them, and they decided to dig the rock up. Using sharpened sticks, they honed on the asphalt, and the boys dug until winter set in and then started again in the spring.
On Monday, June 22, Mohammed got under the rock enough to gain some leverage. The then rolled the rock over to discover a lucky horseshoe of unknown source.
"I felt something under the rock, and I started to dig it up," Mohammed said. "It was a treasure or something."
The hill is located in front of Graham's house, and he appeared on the scene.
Seniority came into play here.
"Mohammed's 12 [actually 13], so he yanked it out," Graham said. "It took a long time."
The horseshoe, packaged as a "Lucky Horseshoe," was dated 1988, which was about the time the townhouses were built, according to Liz Jolley, Graham's mother.
"This is a big sledding hill. All the neighborhood kids came [to dig]. They sharpened sticks on the sidewalk. The whole neighborhood got involved," Jolley said.
Some of the boys had a clubhouse up on the hill.
Directions accompanied the horseshoe, as well.
"It said to hang it up on the wall with this pointed up. Hammer it up with three nails, that's what it said," Graham said.
Graham and Mohammed report that they haven't had any strokes of luck since finding the horseshoe, but the summer is just beginning for them.