In our March 17 edition, The Gazette published a story about the Newtons, an Edmonds, Wash., family who received a surprising telegram from Cannon Beach.

Kelli, Noel and Ryan Newton awoke the morning of March 1 to find a purple balloon on the deck of their home.

Attached to a balloon was a soaking wet note with the following message written on it: “By: Charlie This balloon left Cannon Beach March 1 @ 5:40pm,”

The journey from Cannon Beach to Edmonds is more than 200 miles as the crow flies, and the Newton’s delighted in the serendipity of it landing on their very porch.

“We were so surprised it made the journey intact,” said Kelli Newton. “What are the odds that it would actually land on someone’s deck rather than in a bush, tree or even the sound for that matter?”

The kids were amazed, but wondered how they’d ever find Charlie to tell him what had happened. So The Newtons got in touch with The Gazette in the hopes that the mystery boy might step forward.

On March 24, Charlie’s mother, Jessica Robins, called The Gazette office to let us know that she’d seen the article and that her kids were eager to share their story.

On a windy day in early March, Charlie and his twin sister, Katie, both 8, and their siblings Grace, 10, and Ashley, 11, decided to entertain themselves by borrowing a neighbor’s helium tank. Each child filled up two balloons and, with the help of their parents, penned notes to attach. Then, they stepped outside of their home in Midtown Cannon Beach and let the balloons go.

Ashley says that as they took off, the balloons looked like ” a colorful flock of birds.”

The wind caught the balloons and hurtled them skyward, say the kids, with the exception of Charlie’s balloons, which appeared to be sinking.

“I was worried when I saw my balloon going down,” Charlie recalled.

The kids hoped their balloons might reach Seaside, or perhaps in their wildest imaginings, Seattle.

After reading The Gazette’s story, the Robins pulled out a map and located Edmonds, Wash.

“Of all the places it could have gone, I can’t believe one of the balloons made it that far,” Jessica Robins said. “It was almost in Canada!”

Charlie says he was beyond surprised when he heard the news.

The Robins may try the trick again this summer, but for now they’re happy to know that Charlie’s purple balloon found a home among a family an entire state away.