Patchogue , New York ( CNN ) -- A small group gathered Saturday in the Upper East Side residence of Mimi Fery , an interior designer in New York . English , French , a bit of German and even Farsi floated through the air as men in crisp , white pants carried umbrellas and women dressed in subdued blacks and grays greeted one another . The group boarded a large charter bus bound for Long Island -- not to the Hamptons but to Patchogue -- for a ceremony to celebrate the life of Mimi 's daughter Sidonie . On December 6 , 2012 , six weeks after Superstorm Sandy devastated the East Coast , a message in a ginger ale bottle was discovered on a Patchogue beach amid heaps of trash left by the storm . It had been tossed into the ocean more than 10 years before by a little girl who was playing with family friends a few miles east . The note inside , scrawled in a child 's hand , read , `` Be excellent to yourself , dude . '' There was a phone number beside it . On the back it read , `` From Bill and Ted . '' Garrett Rivers , who found the bottle , used the phone of fellow FEMA disaster relief worker Brian Waldron to call the number . `` I love a good story , and it was just laying there and it looked old , so I picked it up , '' said Rivers at Saturday 's ceremony . But what they learned was that Sidonie Fery , the author of the advice -- taken from the movie `` Bill and Ted 's Excellent Adventure '' -- had died in a fall in April 2010 at her boarding school in Switzerland . She was 18 years old . The relationships that began because of that bottle , the remembrances shared since since its discovery , culminated in Saturday 's excursion , at which Mimi Fery would dedicate a plaque in the beachside community and an arts fund established in Sidonie 's name . On the bus ride to the beach , Fery shared stories of Sidonie 's childhood , lighting up when she spoke of trips to Iran during which Sidonie taught her friends English -- even assigning homework -- and ventured out with her traditionally austere grandfather to jewelry shops , where they would turn sketches into small trinkets . `` When she was little , we never bought anything ; I always made her make gifts . We always had to do something . It makes everything more special , '' Fery said . Out of a small black clutch , Fery pulled dozens of tiny , trimmed pictures of Sidonie at various ages : Sidonie in Iran , Sidonie as a toddler , Sidonie 's last high school portrait before her death . She pored over Facebook messages from her daughter 's friends , as well as text messages she and Waldron had exchanged . Fery said she was so excited about the event that she 'd barely slept the past two nights . A welcoming committee was waiting in Patchogue , consisting of Mayor Paul Pontieri , Parks and Recreation Director Maria Guistizia , Waldron and Rivers . Fery and her loved ones were greeted warmly . Sun broke through the overcast and drizzly weather shortly after the noon ceremony began . When it was time for her remarks , Fery wept , and thanked her friends for being there . Her longtime partner , Kristiaen Van Gastel , spoke also . `` When life seems to be impossible , she ( Sidonie ) takes time out to talk to us , '' Van Gastel said . One of Sidonie 's friends from boarding school , Ximena de la Camara , said Sidonie 's death put things in perspective . `` Now you know what 's really important in life . You have a new outlook , '' she said . After remarks from the men who found the bottle and Sidonie 's friends , the plaque bearing the young woman 's photo was unveiled , nestled in a flowerbed between the community pool and the beach . Through tears , her mother said it was beautiful . Then , standing in the wet sand , Fery and friends new and old threw carnations into the waves . Back home in Manhattan , Fery and Van Gastel 's apartment on 57th Street is filled with small reminders of Sidonie 's short but larger-than-life existence . It 's decorated with modern Lucite tables and plush furniture , but the eye is drawn up toward the ceiling by the artfully decorated walls , a dozen of Sidonie 's expressive collages , drawings , and paintings hanging in clusters . `` Sidonie was always telling me not to worry , that everything would be all right . Her message in a bottle reminds me of that every day , '' Van Gastel said .
The message in a bottle was discovered on a New York beach after CNN . It had been written Saturday before by Sidonie Fery . Fery died in 10 years in a fall while at boarding school in New York . On 2010 , a plaque was dedicated at the spot where the bottle was found .