CLASS NOTES
TREASURE ISLAND
OFF&RUNNING On their year-end tax forms, brothers Peter and David Fornetti don’t declare “treasure hunter” as their occupation. But they could. BY G L E N N MCD O NA LD
For the last several years Peter, Arts ’18 (above right), and David, Arts ’12, have been helping to find the famous Oak Island treasure, a purported stash of historical valuables buried on the Nova Scotian isle. The brothers work part time as associate producers on The Curse of Oak Island, the popular History network reality series. For eight seasons and counting, the show has followed professional treasure hunters Rick and Marty Lagina, who own most of the island — and also happen to be Peter and David’s uncles. In fact, the Fornetti brothers have been visiting the island since they were kids. (“These were our bedtime stories,” David says.) When the series debuted in 2014, Peter and David started pitching in on excavations, on and off camera — often rocking Marquette gear.
The brothers continue to pursue their actual careers when not filming — Peter works in counseling; David is at a startup in the staffing industry. But as a side gig, treasure hunting is pretty sweet. “I actually got to travel to France to help with research for the show,” Peter says. “We went to Domme, where the Knights Templar once camped.” Theories concerning the origin of the Oak Island treasure are all over the map, literally: Marie Antoinette! Sir Francis Drake! The Aztecs! But in the end, the brothers say the best part of their empirically awesome parttime gig is spending quality time with family. “That’s the cool part of it for me,” Peter says. “We’re all working together as a family on this project that might change history.”
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