Note Sent By Balloon Returned To 4th Grader - 20 Years Later

[matcom]

<snip>

CONNOQUENESSING, Pa. (AP) -- A note sent aloft on a green balloon 20 years ago by an elementary school student was returned last week by someone who lives halfway across the state.

Shane Fleeger, now 30, received the laminated note he had sent out as a fourth-grader in nearby Butler. The note, which arrived Tuesday to the school office, had asked the receiver to please send it back.

"Look at how neat my handwriting was then," Fleeger said. "It's not that neat now."

Somehow, the note made its way about 170 miles southeast to Robert Brindle's farm in St. Thomas, Franklin County, about an hour south of Harrisburg.

Brindle, 49, said he thinks he found the note about 15 years ago, but doesn't remember exactly when he found it, only how.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2004/03/08/balloon_note_returned_20_years_later/