What started off as a typical Friday turned into the “coolest night diving” ever for boat captain Jennifer Dowker of Cheboygan, Michigan.
Jennifer is the owner and operator of Nautical North Family Adventures. She was cleaning the windows of her glass bottom vessel, the “Yankee Sunshine,” when she spotted something glinting up from the river bottom.
“I spotted that green bottle on the top of a fish bed, so I said, ‘Oh that looks cool,’ so I reached down and grabbed it and noticed there was paper in it,” Jennifer explained. “So immediately, I was like, ‘Alright this is great.'”
Inside the bottle, she unearthed a message no one had set eyes on in 95 years. The note, dated 1926, read: “Will the person who finds this bottle give this paper to George Morrow, Cheboygan Michigan.”
Jennifer was so excited about her find that she shared the message on Facebook. Her post began to spread, and as interest grew, so did Jennifer’s chances of locating George or his family.
Eventually, the internet worked its magic and George’s daughter was found. Her name is Michele Primeau, and she immediately reached out to Jennifer to verify the treasure.
Even though learning about the bottle came as a “total shock” to Michele, upon reflection, she realized it was exactly the sort of thing her late father loved to do.
“He would always do little things like when we were building our basement he was putting up the paneling and he put a note behind that,” Michele said. “I know the date on the bottle was November 26, and his birthday was in November. It wouldn’t surprise me if he just did that on his birthday.”
Soon, Jennifer and Michele were able to meet up via video conference to discuss their connection. Michele plans to take a trip to Cheboygan in September to see her dad’s note in person, but she decided not to bring the note back home with her.
“I was really hoping to get it back and I was going to frame it and everything,” Michele said. “Then when I went to bed last night I started thinking about it, and it will make my dad live on if I give it to Jen.”
Jennifer was more than happy to display George’s note on board as a tribute to the coolest diving find she’s ever made.
“The name ‘George Morrow’ will live on in the shop of the Yankee Sunshine!” she wrote on Facebook.
We’re sure George is smiling down at Jennifer and his daughter right now! It took 95 years for this prankster’s final gift to be found, but it was worth the wait.
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