Students and supporters gathered at North Fork School last week to release balloons containing their Letters to the World.
Messages of peace, friendship and freedom authored by students from North Fork Elementary School in Eastern Madera County were airmailed in a time capsule balloon 36 years ago and later found in the High Sierra and returned to the school.
The Gazette first covered the story back on March 12 in a story called, “Portal to the Past.” www.mariposagazette.com/articles/ a-portal-to-the-past/
On Jan. 25, 1990, the North Fork Elementary K-8 students wrote letters to the world, launched them in the air and thought they would never see them again.
Much to their surprise, school staff earlier this year received a packet of letters — the exact ones that were written nearly four decades ago.
The letters were found in some bushes at around 10,000 feet in elevation at Bighorn Lake near Mount Reinstein. The hikers, who chose to remain anonymous, mailed them back to the school with a letter attached.
“Your words of peace and freedom are inspiring and have traveled a long way. My heart was so happy after reading all your notes. The letters were still attached to the balloon that carried them across the Sierra Nevada Mountains. As requested, I’m sending the letters back to you. A friend from Southern California.”
Last week, a reunion of some staff and students from 1990 joined current students at North Fork Elementary and celebrated this rare moment in time.
The students crafted letters and poems with artwork, formed a big circle and launched a new generation of inspiration in the sky, hoping these new letters to the world will have the same impact.
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