Balloon travels from Oconomowoc to New York and back

NOW: Balloon travels from Oconomowoc to New York and back

OCONOMOWOC, Wis. (CBS 58) – After celebrating her 90th birthday Marilyn Schaller and her family released the left over balloons.

And one of them made quite the journey.

The balloon was released in early October and was just recently mailed back to Schaller.

“This is a prestamped post card for Marilyn Schaller’s 90th birthday party,” read Schaller. “Please fill in where you found it and then drop it in the mail. Thanks!”

That message was attached to 10 balloons left over from Schaller’s party. The idea came from her granddaughter.

“My granddaughter said, grams, don’t worry about. I’ll do what we do in Germany,” explained Schaller.

It’s normally a wedding tradition – attaching a postcard to helium balloons with a return address and then releasing them.

The note asks the person who finds it to toss it in the mail.

“It was just beautiful to see them all go up,” says Schaller. “A couple of them got caught in a tree but the next day they were gone.’

Weeks went by and still no post cards, until one arrived all the way from Brockport, New York.

“First off, happy belated birthday,” read Schaller from the note. “I was walking through my woods when I found your balloon.”

Schaller was surprised her balloon had traveled more than 700 miles and was not back at home.

“It fell in the woods,” says Schaller. “This nice guy was hunting, found it, and here it is.”

Marilyn says she wrote back to the person and thanked them.

So far, it’s the only postcard she’s received but she’s hopeful more will start making their way back home.

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