Northeast Tarrant

A mysterious message found in bottle at Lake Grapevine


A view of the message found by Ted Barney and his border collie Clancy. They found the message in a bottle in Lake Grapevine.
A view of the message found by Ted Barney and his border collie Clancy. They found the message in a bottle in Lake Grapevine. Star-Telegram

Walking on the shore of Lake Grapevine with his dog, Ted Barney stumbled upon a bottle, containing a dollar bill and a message of hope.

“It is a short message from a kid who has a kind heart,” Barney said.

It reads: “We are in this together. The war and the hate is just a waste. We are all in this thing til the end.”

Based on the somewhat childish scrawl, Barney believes that the message was written by an elementary school student, possibly as a class project.

Barney, an aircraft maintenance technician for American Airlines, lives with his wife, Kati; and daughter, Alice, about two blocks from the south end of the lake.

He walks the lake about four or five times a week, usually with his cherished 9-year-old dog, Clancy.

“He splashes along the water,” Barney said.

Barney said he’s not sure where the bottle was launched but said it was a windy day and the waves were lapping, so it could have come from most anywhere.

“The bottle was on the edge of the shore in the water, so I just picked it up and observed a note in it,” Barney said. “I thought it was a nice sentiment from a kid.”

Marty Sabota, 817-390-7367

Did you write this letter?

If so please call Marty Sabota at 817-390-7840 or email her at msabota@star-telegram.com. We’d love to hear your story.

This story was originally published March 2, 2015 at 10:43 AM with the headline "A mysterious message found in bottle at Lake Grapevine."

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