Perhaps someone blew the candles a bit too hard.
A balloon bouquet took flight from a person's 40th birthday party, apparently somewhere in New York, before coming to rest Sunday morning in Greenwich National Park in eastern P.E.I., some 1,500 kilometres away.
Mandy Shaw and Karen Leblanc of Charlottetown were snowshoeing in the national park when they first spotted an unidentified floating object drifting towards the ground.
They both stared skyward trying to place what at first glance seemed to be a white mass that had a small black object hitching a ride.
"For a split second I wondered if pieces of the space satellite collision (large U.S. and Russian communication satellites collided over Siberia on Feb. 10) could still be intact; surely they'd be on fire,'' said Shaw.
A parachute? Bits of a plane? Alien? Kiteboarder?
The pair soon realized the object was much smaller than any of those considerations. It was simply a spirited balloon-a-gram, one that had just tallied a bundle of air miles. The balloons only took about 30 seconds to land after Shaw and Leblanc spotted them.
The bouquet of silver, purple and black balloons (the latter declaring '40, the party continues') settled softly in the snow, just 50 or so metres away from this outdoors duo.
Shaw and Leblanc assumed the balloons, many still well inflated with helium, had taken a relatively short flight from a neighbouring community. A check of a surprisingly dry and clean business card attached to ribbons binding the balloons together indicated the balloons were adrift long enough for an air traveller to watch an in-flight movie, read a thick novel and enjoy a good nap.
Stapled to the ribbons that held the balloons together was a business card that read: Oh How Cute, Inc. 4007 Victory Blvd., Staten Island, New York.
"It makes you wonder how long it took them to get here,'' said Leblanc, a Grade 7 teacher at Ecole Francois-Buote.
"It was kind of weird to see them . . . we turned around and just saw them coming down from the sky.''
Shaw, who is set to start work with the Town of Stratford's recreation department, already has a link to New York. Her parents are originally from Long Island, which is about a 20-minute drive from Staten Island - home to the store that apparently sold the balloons.
Shaw now wants to learn more about a birthday party that took place such a long way away from here.
"I want to know what the party was like. Was it a big party? Who let the balloons go?. . . It would be cool to know when the balloons were let go.''
Shaw also believes that the recently turned 40-year-old would get a kick learning just how far a greeting meant for him or her has travelled.
Balloons take voyage from U.S. all way to Island
Balloons take voyage from U.S. all way to Island
Perhaps someone blew the candles a bit too hard.
A balloon bouquet took flight from a person's 40th birthday party, apparently somewhere in New York, before coming to rest Sunday morning in Greenwich National Park in eastern P.E.I., some 1,500 kilometres away.
Mandy Shaw and Karen Leblanc of Charlottetown were snowshoeing in the national park when they first spotted an unidentified floating object drifting towards the ground.
They both stared skyward trying to place what at first glance seemed to be a white mass that had a small black object hitching a ride.
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Comments
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- Patty
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:42:35
I'm the one who let balloons go on Staten Island last weekend.
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- sevenells
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:41:20
It is refreshing to have such a light hearted good news story in the news. I'll be curious to hear the story behind the story. Does anybody remember the story about the mermaid balloon that came down in Mermaid PEI years ago?
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- ruby
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:36:48
tis is news worthy?????
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- Lovely
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:35:25
Cute story :) And to Environment Lover, we don't know that they were let go on purpose! They may have accidentally got loose. Relax! I hope there's a follow up as well!
And do those that think this isn't news worthy, stop being such grouches! I'm from a much larger place and nice stories like this make it into large news mediums as well. Stop trying to find things to complain about! -
- Heather
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:34:47
I love these stories. I hope there is a follow up.
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- Linnea
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:32:00
Hey, this made news in the Toronto Star today! I thought it was good for a laugh.
I hope you do a followup with the results of your contact. i'm not so sure the Star will publish that, though. -
- Environment
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:31:34
The practice of letting ballons aloft is dangerous to sea creatures that have been known to ingest them with tragic results.
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- EFB Mom
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:31:10
Mme Karen, Once the science fair is over, I smell another project coming on! Thank you for your continued support in the grade 7 class at EFB. The students are really appreciating your dedication to them.
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- fines?
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:30:01
I'm defiantly not a tree hugger or anything but how is this any different than throwing a tims cup out the window..in the day of trying to save or air and water this seems crazy
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- great story
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:20:25
sorry Shelly, great story . hope we find out more about those crazy balloons.
for those who like stories that are not happy check out Rotten.com. -
- LA
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:15:48
shelley and ruby, it was interesting enough for you to take the time to read and comment on, so it must be newsworthy.
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- Ryan
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:13:10
who cares!!! you guys owe me 2min of my life back,what a waste of time writing and reading this
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- Philip
- - June 21st, 2010 at 20:13:03
nahhhh, i was down in NYC last week, bought some balloons for a birthday party over the weekend in charlottetown. We let them fly away in a drunken stuper.
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- Kate
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:58:30
Whatever, Shelly. I love stories like this. Do you have any idea what the chances of them coming down fully intact are. That's awesome.
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- Glen
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:51:33
The Lil' Mermaid Story and the balloon from the U.S. child who lost her father... Landing in Mermaid pei
Readers Digest did an amazing story on that one a few years ago ! ! ! -
- KitKat
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:49:03
Ryan, just because it took away 2 minutes of your life doesn't mean it isn't interesting to other people. When you saw the headline why didn't you just turn the page. I don't understand why people complain about the stories in a newspaper. Not everything is going to be of interest to you. I don't like sports so I skip those pages. I suggest you do the same.
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- norma
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:38:39
I would like to find the balloons that had the $10,000 engagement ring tied to it. I wonder if it came down anywhere.
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- shelly
- - June 21st, 2010 at 19:35:55
Amazing how this makes the daily guardian headline.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
