Melanie Thurston, Kristie Jobe, and a Punch Bowl Filled with Silver Dollars

In August 1983 in Bryant, Arkansas, Odell Witham, the operator of the Chief Gas Station, made a mistake. He put a moneybag containing $1,080 on top of his car and drove off. Fortunately, two honest teenagers found the money: Melanie Thurston and Kristie Jobe. Both were 16 years old and both were juniors at Bryant High School. They found the moneybag in the parking lot of the gas station. Ms. Thurston said, “There was all this money in there.” They gave the money to their parents, who found a deposit slip inside. The bank was then able to locate Mr. Witham, who came up with a creative way to reward the girls. He filled a punch bowl with silver dollars and invited the girls to dip their hands in it and get as many silver dollars as they could. One girl got 46 silver dollars, and the other girl got 50 silver dollars, and so he gave each girl $50. The girls planned to use the money to buy school clothes and supplies.