The Video That Started the TV Series

The Island Search

For those too young to know.

Before the Internet and computers as we know them now. There were floppy disks, Compaq computers, and dot matrix printers.

There was no WiFi. The Internet consisted of  Dial-up Bulletin Board Systems, (BBS).

Many BBS offered chat rooms, online gaming, and message boards. You could find a message board on just about any topic. If you loved playing poker. You could dial up to a poker-playing message board and converse with others.

Those who loved cooking could dial up to a cooking message board and exchange recipes or talk about their favorite dishes with like-minded individuals.

Love history? There were message boards about American History, Foreign History, WWI, WWII, and just about any historical topic within those areas.

I love American History. I also love metal detecting and treasure hunting. Often, I’ve searched for treasures of all kinds by myself. But at times. It’s fun to have a detect’en partner to share adventures and finds with.

So back in the dial-up BBS days, I was fortunate to find a group of metal-detecting individuals on a metal-detecting message board. They were living in various areas across my State. They also had the same passion for American History and the hobby as I did.

We frequented the message board almost daily. It’s not a stretch to say that through our online messaging, we became great friends. We also formed an Internet metal-detecting club. The NY Internet Metal Detecting Club, (NYIMDC).  Our online meetings resulted in our small club planning a weekend metal-detecting adventure. That trip was so successful that we had several more over the next five years.

The video here was taken by me during that first adventure. I will admit, as you’ll notice. I am not a pro videographer by any means. Honestly, I’m pretty bad at shooting video. I used an old Sony 8MM Camcorder to film.

The video was never intended to be made into an award-winning film or a brief documentary. The video was made to share with the group.

However, this video eventually became my idea for a reality-based, metal-detecting TV series.

After watching the video and sharing it with others in the hobby many were saying, “There should be a metal-detecting TV show.” It was at that time I decided to try and get a TV series started. There were no metal-detecting TV shows. Especially one that researched American History through metal detecting.

There were also no metal-detecting videos on YouTube. YouTube did not begin until 2005. I was planning my TV series in 2002.

I’m proud to say, that my reality metal-detecting TV series, “Exploring History’s Treasures,” (EHT), was the first series of its kind. Even when not one network executive wanted to show it. The network's brain trusts kept saying, “We want more poker-playing shows.”

But through my effort and the idea of sharing broadcast rights with cable news, I succeeded in getting my TV series onto TV in every State at prime time. We managed to stay on air for three years.

People loved watching how we used metal detecting to explain history.  DVDs of the series were being sold across America, S. America, Canada, and Europe. Thousands of testimonials came to us monthly.

There have been many metal-detecting shows that have tried to match what my show did. But they failed miserably. They failed because they did not have what I had. I had an ace in the hole. And that Ace was my co-host and great friend John Decharo, (R.I.P buddy).

John’s historical knowledge and naturally crazy demeanor fit perfectly with what I was trying to accomplish with the series. Viewers sent emails, and testimonials to our office saying how much they loved the show, and that John was a major part.

Thank You to all of those BBS Internet friends who participated in that first metal-detecting adventure. And who later was featured in one of the EHT episodes. You made that adventure and the ones that followed memories that I will cherish forever.

Thanks to the many thousands of EHT viewers who have been following me for many years on my websites. You are much appreciated.

And of course to my buddy.

John, I MISS YOU. Thanks for the great times we had together. You are not forgotten.

I hope you enjoy the video.

F.W. Pandozzi

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Note About The Video

Every site that our group metal detected during those years was first granted permission to do so by the owners of the property.

This video shows the difficulty our group had in crossing a river to get onto an island. Crossing the river was the only way to gain access. In addition, we had to be mindful that there was a damn that controlled the river's water level. When the damn opened, the water level could rise as much as four feet. It would have been dangerous for us to be trying to cross when the river was rising. Therefore, we had to be off the island by 4 PM. At that time the damn would open again.

This island was used as a stopping point for troops during both the French & Indian War and the Revolutionary War.

In later years, when access to the island was available by using a wooden bridge, the island became a popular picnic area for local towns.

John and my research also discovered that the bridge to the island was removed in the 1940s due to safety issues. So the island had been unoccupied since that time.

Because of the island's history. And the fact that most likely no other had metal detected it due to the difficulty getting onto it. As well as the fact that most likely no one else had researched the island's history we felt there would be great opportunities to discover some of the island's history through relics it would give up.

VIDEO BELOW

The Island Search