5th grader’s message in a bottle found 26 years later across the ocean

SANDWICH, Mass. (WCVB) - A message in a bottle written by a Massachusetts student more than two decades ago was recently found in France.

A package and letter from a French fisherman recently arrived at Oak Ridge School in East Sandwich. It detailed a discovery he’d made at a beach in August: a message in a bottle from a former student.

“He was actually combing the beach for trash, picking up different items, and that’s when he came upon the bottle,” Assistant Principal Brandy Clifford said.

The outside of the bottle had a note reading, “Please open. Message inside!”

That message was written by then-5th grader Benjamin “Ben” Lyons as part of a science project about ocean currents, erosion and climate change. The bottle was dropped in Nantucket Sound in October 1997.

Lyons now lives in the Washington, D.C., area, but his parents still reside in the community.

“His folks have relayed to the district that they’re just really, really pleased, and it’s kind of like one of those things that just brings a smile to your face,” said Sandwich Public Schools Superintendent Joe Maruszczak.

The discovery and correspondence between the fisherman and the school district has current staff and students abuzz.

“There’s no way to find out how this bottle traveled so far, and I think that’s what we’re kind of in awe of,” Clifford said.

The district wrote back to the fisherman, hoping he can talk remotely with one of their French classes about his discovery.

The contents of the bottle and the fisherman’s letter will be displayed inside the elementary school.

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