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Messages Sent Airmail

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By COURTNEY CAIRNS PASTOR

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 1, 2008

EGYPT LAKE - The 130 red and blue balloons had mostly faded into a cloudless afternoon sky, but 8-year-old Viviana Angelini could still spot the specks.

"I can see them," she said.

Children at Tampa Christian Community School squinted and shielded their eyes as they tried to follow the path of balloons they had released minutes earlier. The school, as part of its spirit week, attached messages to balloons telling recipients the school had said a prayer for them.

Tampa Christian opened in 1991 and combines two days a week of home-schooling with three days of classes at the First Church of the Nazarene on Himes Avenue. Children in prekindergarten through ninth grade attend.

Principal Melissa Walker led the students in prayer before the release, thanking God for a beautiful day and the school spirit students share. With an "Amen" and a "five, four, three, two, one - go" the children cheered and let go of their balloon strings.

Notes on the balloons asked finders to e-mail the school so students could learn how far the balloons had traveled. The last time Tampa Christian released balloons, about three years ago, a logger discovered a balloon near Chiefland.

Where would these go?

"Up there!" 5-year-old Ember Halverson said, pointing to the sky.

Reporter Courtney Cairns Pastor can be reached at (813) 865-1503 or cpastor@tampatrib.com.

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