NATCHEZ &045;&045; Dakota Ray, 5, has no idea how to get to Punxsutawney, Pa., but his balloon managed to find its way.

Ray released a pink helium balloon with fellow West Primary kindergartners on Sept. 24, right around the time Hurricane Ivan’s winds were brewing over the southeastern states.

About a week later, Nancy Bowers noticed something pink in a pine tree in her yard about 8 miles from Punxsutawney.

Bowers ignored the trash at first, until it fell to the ground and revealed a nametag linking it to Ray and Natchez.

&uot;I was just so surprised to find something that came clear from Mississippi,&uot; Bowers said.

Ray and his librarian Diane Burns were just as surprised to hear from Bowers.

&uot;We were delighted and tickled this traveled so far,&uot; Burns said, holding the remains of the balloon returned to Ray by Bowers. &uot;We feel like it got in the upper air and with the wind patterns of Ivan made it there.&uot;

The balloon release was the kick-off of the Books and Beyond reading program at the school, and Ray said he remembers letting the balloon go.

&uot;We went outside and let it go,&uot; he said. &uot;There were a lot of them.&uot;

Burns said the school has received one of the other 135 balloons released on Sept. 24 from Boyle.

The only other balloon Burns has ever had returned came back from Lumberton last year after a logging crew found it.

The tag that carried Ray’s name also carried another request, read a book.

&uot;I’m an avid reader, so I didn’t have to be told,&uot; Bowers said.

After hanging on to the balloon for a little while to show her granddaughter, Bowers returned it with a letter to Ray. In the letter Bowers spoke of the famous groundhog of Punxsutawney and the town’s title as weather capital of the world.

The letter also included a bookmark from the town showcasing the weather predicting groundhog.