From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Dec. 28, 1971:

A note in a bottle thrown into the Kansas River during an idle summer day had been found by two Lawrence boys. Eddie Rosebrough and Mike Garner, both 14, had found a bottle floating in the river. To their amazement, it contained a note from a Larry Mullanex of Topeka, who had penned the note with the date (July 19 of the previous summer) and his contact information. Larry, also age 14, was very happy to receive a phone call from the Lawrence boys, and the three were planning to get together soon. Meanwhile, Eddie was planning to send a bottled note of his own down the river, perhaps to find a new friend in Kansas City, he told his mother.