Message in a Bottle Returns
- inquiries800
- Dec 2, 2024
- 1 min read
In 1998, Makenzie Van Eyk’s fourth-grade class at St. John the Baptist participated in a project inspired by Paddle-to-the-Sea, writing notes, sealing them in bottles, and tossing them into a local Ontario lake. Twenty-six years later, Van Eyk’s bottle was discovered by a young boy playing with his family around Lake St. Clair. He took the bottle to class with him at St. John the Baptist, the same school Van Eyk attended. Teachers read the note aloud to students, using it as a real-life example of the dangers of plastic pollution in water. Among the listeners was fourth-grader Scarlet, who recognized her mother’s maiden name on the note, realizing it was written by Makenzie. The discovery astonished Makenzie, as the bottle had returned not only intact but to her daughter’s classroom, forging a poignant connection across generations and adding unexpected significance to the long-lost project.
Image via Smithsonian
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