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    • Message in a Bottle Lyrics and Meaning – Sting and the Police
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  • List of the World’s Oldest Messages in Bottles
    • World’s Oldest Message in a Bottle is 135 Years Old
    • 132 Year Old Message in a Bottle is Second Oldest
    • 112 Year Old Message in a Bottle is Third Oldest
    • 108 Year Old Message in a Bottle is Fourth Oldest
    • 107 Year Old Message in a Bottle is Fifth Oldest
    • 101 Year Old Message in a Bottle is Sixth Oldest
    • 98 Year Old Message in a Bottle is Seventh Oldest
    • 88 Year Old Message in a Bottle is Eighth Oldest
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Tag Archives: News

10 Year Old Message in a Bottle from Southington Teen Solved: Meet Amanda!

21 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by Clint Buffington | Message in a Bottle Hunter in message in a bottle

≈ 1 Comment

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Connecticut, message in a bottle, Mystery, News, Quinnipiac

10 Year Old Message in a Bottle Solved

A 10 year old message in a bottle from a Southington, CT teen has been solved! And it’s all thanks to…well, to you guys! My Bottle Buddies! I recently posted about a 10 year old message in a glass root beer bottle found by Michael Wieloch, a volunteer with the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association, in the Quinnipiac River in Meriden, Connecticut. The message was written by a 15-year-old girl named Amanda who was helping her friend babysit. I thooought we might have found her Instagram profile. Remember that? Turns out I was wrong… Continue reading →

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Message in a Bottle Answered After 28 Years

13 Wednesday Dec 2017

Posted by Clint Buffington | Message in a Bottle Hunter in message in a bottle, News

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Detroit, Inspiration, message in a bottle, Michigan, News

Message in a Bottle Answered Decades Later

If your message in a bottle is answered at all, you are extremely lucky. But to have your message in a bottle answered after 28 years? That is just crazy good luck!

Message in a bottle answered after 28 years:, John and Diane Worrell. Bottle sent by William Shuford.

John and Diane Worrell. Photo: John Worrell.

John and Diane Worrell have picked up countless plastic bottles from their lakeside home in Ontario over the years–but they knew they had found something special when one turned up with paper inside it.

According to the Detroit Free Press, that paper turned out to be a message written by a 12 year old boy. When? They couldn’t tell–it wasn’t dated. And when they tried to call the phone number on the message, it was disconnected.

Message in a Bottle Answered After 28 Years: William Shuford's 1989 Note.

William’s message in a bottle. Photo: John Worrell.

Message in a Bottle Answered After Search for Sender

That’s when they decided to ask Allie Gross at the Detroit Free Press for help. Bless her heart, she is one of the rare journalists who seem to understand the deep impact that messages in bottles can have on lives–an impact unique to messages in bottles.

Well, Allie found William Shuford, the author of the note. Hurray!

John and Diane Worrell had been excited about brightening the day of a kid when they told him of their find. William was 12 when he sent his note with his father, and John and Diane figured he was maybe 14 or 15 today. In fact, William is now 40, making his message in a bottle 28 years old. He sent it most likely in 1989.

Message in a Bottle Answered After 28 Years: William Shuford Today.

William Shuford. Photo: William Shuford.

William was extremely surprised to have his message in a bottle answered, according to Detroit Free Press. It seemed to bring him right back to a different world and a different time–a time when he was growing up in Detroit, living with his two sisters and his single father, learning from him, a time when, as he told the CBC, “My dad was everyone’s dad in the neighbourhood because there weren’t enough dads to go around.”

The message in a bottle, it turned out, was born of a tradition he had with his father. Each year, on New Year’s Eve, they would visit the water at Belle Isle. According to the CBC, “When Shuford went off to college, he would get a call from his dad every New Year’s Eve. Dad was heading down to the water, where he would stare out and say a few prayers as another year began.”

Message in a Bottle Answered After 28 Years: Path of the Bottle 1.

Message in a Bottle Answered After 28 Years: Path of the Bottle 2.

Of course William grew up and carried on with his life. Today, he works as a head-hunter and AirBnB host in the San Francisco Bay area. Sadly his father passed away in 2014. Although he never got to hear of the note’s discovery, he left quite a legacy. My favorite detail from the CBC story is that William remembers seeing his dad braiding his daughters’ hair in the morning. I don’t know a lot, but I know this: as silly as it sounds, the world would be a better place if more daddies were willing and able to braid their daughters’ hair. It seems like an insignificant detail–just a daily chore. But it reveals a sweetness of heart, a simple goodness that this world could use a lot more of, don’t you think?

There are even workshops for dads happening nowadays based on exactly this idea, like this one and this one. Isn’t this the loveliest thing that ever happened? And William’s dad was way ahead of his time on this point. Well done, I say!

Message in a Bottle Answered After 28 Years: William Shuford with his dad.

William and his dad looking sharp together! Photo: William Shuford.

A Message in a Bottle Connection

Every message in a bottle answered is an opportunity, a window suddenly opened between lives.

William has now spoken with John and Diane, and, in the magic way of message in a bottles, a new friendship has been formed–a friendship that never would have been possible in any other way. If you ask me, that makes the world a measurably better place.

*There was another message in a bottle answered in the same region after 97 years. Click here for that story.

***If you liked this story, click here to find me on Facebook and like my page for more message in a bottle stories! YOU could be the next one to solve a message in a bottle mystery! Click here to learn more about messages in bottles, and you can always contact me with questions, ideas, or stories.

 

 

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Drawing In a Bottle Found in England: Who Drew This Sketch of an Old Man?

07 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by Clint Buffington | Message in a Bottle Hunter in message in a bottle

≈ 2 Comments

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Devon, England, Gemma Dunstan, Inspiration, message in a bottle, News

Drawing in a Bottle – A Mysterious Message

Gemma Dunstan and her boyfriend recently found a mysterious message in a bottle and are looking for help locating the sender. It is not so much a message in a bottle as a drawing in a bottle…

Drawing in a Bottle: Gemma Dunstan and Her Boyfriend Roddy on the Beach.

Photo: Gemma Dunstan.

After years of finding and researching messages in bottles, I have come to realize that there are as many motives for sending them as people on earth. Yet, I still wonder: What is the motive behind sending something like a drawing in a bottle with no identifying information? I count myself lucky that when I found art in a bottle, John Piper included his contact info (click here for that story). Continue reading →

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1933 Time Capsule Message in a Bottle Unearthed at Oklahoma State Capitol

30 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by Clint Buffington | Message in a Bottle Hunter in message in a bottle, News

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1933, message in a bottle, News, Oklahoma, Time Capsule

A Stately Time Capsule

Sometimes, a message in a bottle story appears, and no one seems to notice it, and it fades into history. It boggles my mind, but this 84 year old message in a bottle has attracted practically no attention. And it’s not just a message in a bottle–it’s a time capsule!

Personally, I find land-based messages in bottles super interesting! Like–why not just use a box or something, since the time capsule doesn’t have to float? Maybe they were preparing for mega floods? What inspired these people to seal messages in bottles and hide them decades ago?

Time Capsule Message in a Bottle: Oklahoma State Capitol. Copyright Caleb Long.

Oklahoma State Capitol. Photo: Caleb Long (via Wikipedia).

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Mysterious Message in a Bottle Found: Seeking Nigel Hanlon of Australia!

09 Wednesday Aug 2017

Posted by Clint Buffington | Message in a Bottle Hunter in Friendship, message in a bottle, Mystery Message, News

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Australia, Inspiration, message in a bottle, News

Mysterious Message Washes Ashore in Australia

Another fascinating and mysterious message in a bottle has been discovered on Australia’s west coast! The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports that Michael Thompson discovered a 35 year old message in a bottle on a remote beach in northwest Australia around Mundabullangana Station.

Look at this thing!

Mysterious message in a bottle - Nigel Hanlon's Message

35 year old message in a bottle recently discovered by Michael Thompson. Photo: Michelle Stanley / ABC.net

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Message in a Shell Discovered on Florida Beach: Seeking Shane and Jolene!

05 Saturday Aug 2017

Posted by Clint Buffington | Message in a Bottle Hunter in Friendship, Love, Mystery Message, News, ocean currents, weird news

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Cocoa Beach, February 26th 2009, Florida, Inspiration, message in a bottle, message in a shell, News, Shane and Jolene, wedding

Message in a Shell Washes Ashore

Today: a tiny post about a tiny–but very intriguing–message. A message in a shell.

At the end of July this year, Amy Mayes was walking Cocoa Beach with her husband and kids when they stumbled upon a shell that appeared to have writing on its inner surface, according to WKMG News 6 in Orlando.

Message in a shell

Photo: Amy Mayes

Continue reading →

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