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THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2014
Vol. 2 Edition 31
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Message in a bottle
By Mary Beth Corcoran mary@chathamvoice.com
Sometimes, there is a story you hear that gives you goose bumps and makes you believe that a higher power really is at work in the universe. The story of the message in a bottle is one of those; and for a Brigden woman, it is very real. The day a woman known as “the horse lady” in Wallaceburg found a message in a bottle in Running Creek from an eightyear-old Brigden girl asking for a pony was a life-changing one for both of them. Dawne Mudford, a 4H Horse and Pony Club organizer and
horse-lover, was kayaking with her 4H Canoe and Kayak members 10 years ago w h e n s h e saw a
red ball bobbing in the reeds of Running Creek. Thinking it was g a rbage, she
paddled over to get it and saw a small clear bottle floating with a white piece of paper in it. The paper said, “Message inside – break bottle to open.” “It was like the red ball was a beacon and when I saw what was inside, my jaw dropped to the floor and I couldn’t speak,” Dawne said. “Everyone in Wallaceburg knows me as the horse lady, and for me to find it was pretty outstanding.” Esther Thomson was eight when she threw the bottle into Black Creek behind her house in Bridgen, and never expected that nine months later, she would get a call from possibly the only woman who could grant her wish for a pony. “I was homeschooled and my mom had u s
write a book as a project. Mine was based on my life – a girl wanted a horse but her parents wouldn’t let her have one and said it was too expensive,” Esther, now 18, said. “I didn’t like that it was fictional so I asked my sister to help me write the message and I don’t think she really knew what it was for. Then I remember thinking, ‘It’s real to this point.’” Dawne called the number on the note, and left a careful message for Esther, letting her know if she still wanted a pony, one was lined up for her. “It took a few days before I made the call. The bottle could have been in the water for years,” Mudford explained. “I didn’t see it as a nicety, I felt it was a command from a higher
Mary Beth Corcoran/The Chatham Voice
Dawne Mudford holds the little bottle that an eight-year-old girl dropped into a creek near Brigden 10 years ago, which held a message that would ultimately change both their lives. The little girl, Esther Thomson, in the picture Dawne’s also holding, had her wish granted to have a pony to ride.
power. If someone like me found it, I knew I had to do it.” Holding the original bottle and note, Dawne said, “This little bottle is one of the most special things in my life.” The Thomsons invited Dawne over for supper to meet Esther and tell her about her new pony, Sandy, a little Palomino rescue horse that was waiting for the girl whenever she was ready. “It felt surreal. It’s pretty impossible for that to happen but when I was little I believed it could,” Ester said. Dawne also arranged riding lessons and invited Thomson to join her 4H Horse and Pony Club. “Esther was at every meeting,” Dawne said. “There was a special bond between her and horses. The horses just loved her. If you were going to make a movie and find a girl to cast in it, she was it – so very precious.” Getting to know Esther, Dawne was amazed at all the parallels between their lives. Both are each one of seven children, both loved to draw horses starting with the ears, and they both shared a passion for horses and riding. “It was like we had known each other forever,” Dawne said. Continued on page 5
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