Latest news with #MahareesPeninsula
CBS News
14-07-2025
- General
- CBS News
Canadian couple's message in a bottle found 13 years later 2,000 miles away: "A metaphor for resilience"
A message in a bottle thrown into the Atlantic Ocean by a Canadian couple in Newfoundland 13 years ago recently washed ashore on a beach in Ireland. The couple, identified by various U.S. and Canadian media outlets as Brad and Anita Squires, were on Newfoundland's Bell Island in 2012 when they decided to cast a message out to sea. "Anita and Brad's day trip to Bell Island," the note said. "Today, we enjoyed dinner, this bottle of wine and each other, at the edge of the island." It asked whoever might find the message to "please call us," followed by a scribbled number. "I gave it everything I had," Brad Squires told The Canadian Press in an interview Wednesday. "We didn't see it hit the water, it was too high up. I just assumed it smashed on the rocks." The bottle survived the throw and for 13 years, it floated across the Atlantic Ocean until it washed up ashore about 2,000 miles away on Scraggane Bay in the Maharees Peninsula along the southwest coast of Ireland. It was picked up on Monday by Kate and Jon Gay, who shared the discovery with a local conversation group. "Really? A message in a bottle? Really? Wow!" Kate Gay told CBS News via email on Friday. "We couldn't see any writing on the paper inside — and decided to save the excitement of opening it until that evening." She is a community partner of the Maharees Conservation Association. They are working together to strengthen coastal resilience through creative exploration with the community, she said. "I thought it would be a fun way to start a project meeting we were having in my house that evening … and I wasn't wrong!" she said in her email. "That bottle had survived so many storms that have caused damage, erosion and flooding in Maharees … yet it arrived on our beach, that day, a little weathered but holding strong!" That night, the association shared a post on its Facebook page with photos of the bottle and the message. It quickly went viral. "Such a long way to travel and such a long time to get here but we got it! Now if only Anita and Brad would just answer the phone they told us to call them on!!!" the post said. "It seems we let a genie out of that bottle!" Kate Gay said. Within an hour, the Squires — now married with three children and living in Newfoundland, according to The Canadian Press — reached out to the conservation group confirming they were the Brad and Anita in the note. "Anita and I both feel like we have new friends, and we're all equally amazed," Brad Squires said. He and his wife are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary next year. It is also the conversation association's 10th year anniversary. "It's such a romantic story - and it has brought joy to so many," Kate Gay told CBS News. "The 'message in a bottle' has gone from being a time capsule of a happy moment on Bell Island to a metaphor for resilience and the ripple effect of positive actions and connections."
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Couple's message in a bottle found 13 years later 2,000 miles away
A message in a bottle thrown into the Atlantic Ocean by a Canadian couple in Newfoundland 13 years ago recently washed ashore a beach in Ireland. The couple, identified by various U.S. and Canadian media outlets as Brad and Anita Squires, were on Newfoundland's Bell Island in 2012 when they decided to cast a message out to sea. "Anita and Brad's day trip to Bell Island," the note said. "Today, we enjoyed dinner, this bottle of wine and each other, at the edge of the island." It asked whoever might find the message to "please call us," followed by a scribbled number. "I gave it everything I had," Brad Squires told The Canadian Press in an interview Wednesday. "We didn't see it hit the water, it was too high up. I just assumed it smashed on the rocks." The bottle survived the throw and for 13 years, it floated across the Atlantic Ocean until it washed up ashore about 2,000 miles away on Scraggane Bay in the Maharees Peninsula along the southwest coast of Ireland. It was picked up on Monday by Kate and Jon Gay, who shared the discovery with a local conversation group. "Really? A message in a bottle? Really? Wow!" Kate Gay told CBS News via email on Friday. "We couldn't see any writing on the paper inside — and decided to save the excitement of opening it until that evening." She is a community partner of the Maharees Conservation Association. They are working together to strengthen coastal resilience through creative exploration with the community, she said. "I thought it would be a fun way to start a project meeting we were having in my house that evening … and I wasn't wrong!" she said in her email. "That bottle had survived so many storms that have caused damage, erosion and flooding in Maharees … yet it arrived on our beach, that day, a little weathered but holding strong!" That night, the association shared a post on its Facebook page with photos of the bottle and the message. It quickly went viral. "Such a long way to travel and such a long time to get here but we got it! Now if only Anita and Brad would just answer the phone they told us to call them on!!!" the post said. "It seems we let a genie out of that bottle!" Kate Gay said. Within an hour, the Squires — now married with three children and living in Newfoundland, according to The Canadian Press — reached out to the conservation group confirming they were the Brad and Anita in the note. "Anita and I both feel like we have new friends, and we're all equally amazed," Brad Squires said. He and his wife are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary next year. It is also the conversation association's 10th year anniversary. "It's such a romantic story - and it has brought joy to so many," Kate Gay told CBS News. "The 'message in a bottle' has gone from being a time capsule of a happy moment on Bell Island to a metaphor for resilience and the ripple effect of positive actions and connections." ICE raids in California turn violent after protesters clash with agents One year after Thomas Crooks tried to kill President Trump, here's what's known about him Reflecting on the selfless heroism shown during the Texas floods
CBC
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Newfoundland couple's love note in a bottle found 13 years later on Irish shore
A romantic message in a bottle thrown from the cliffs of an island off Newfoundland nearly 13 years ago was found on a beach in Ireland this week — and the couple behind it are still in love. Brad and Anita Squires had been dating for about a year when they decided to end a quiet September picnic on Bell Island in 2012 by casting a message out to sea. "Today we enjoyed dinner, this bottle of wine and each other on the edge of the island," Anita wrote on a piece of lined paper before stuffing it into the bottle. Brad stood up and hurled it into the waters of Conception Bay. "I gave it everything I had," he said in an interview on Wednesday. "We didn't see it hit the water, it was too high up. I just assumed it smashed on the rocks." It didn't. On Monday afternoon, more than 3,000 kilometres away, Kate and Jon Gay found the bottle on a beach on the Maharees Peninsula along the southwest coast of Ireland. They broke it open that night with members of a local conservation group, who then posted about the letter on Facebook. In less than an hour, Martha Farrell with the Maharees Conservation Association was reading a text from Anita Squires confirming she and Brad were now married with three children. "And then I said, 'Yay, love conquers all — and the Atlantic Ocean,"' said Farrell. "It was unbelievable, because we didn't know what had become of this very romantic couple," she continued. "Our project is about coastal resilience and climate adaptation. And we were wondering, is this love story, is this romance resilient? Would they still be together?" Brad and Anita Squires were in a long-distance relationship when they had their picnic on Bell Island, which is about a 20-minute drive and a short ferry ride northwest of St. John's. He was a young police officer posted in British Columbia and his future wife was training to be a nurse in Newfoundland. They were married in 2016, and they have two teenagers and a young child. "We were young in love and now we're older in love," said Brad Squires. Farrell said the crowd at the Gays' house made a toast to the Newfoundland couple after reading the letter. Later, across the Atlantic, Brad and Anita Squires toasted the group in Ireland as they shared text messages with Farrell. "Anita and I both feel like we have new friends, and we're all equally amazed," Brad Squires said. He and his wife will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary next year. The Maharees Conservation Association, co-founded by Farrell in 2016, is also celebrating its 10th anniversary next year. "I guess we have some people to visit and a trip to probably plan," Squires said.
