The News staff writer

SABINE PASS — In the days after Hurricane Ike, Theresa Cass wanted to show her children the force and devastation of the storm. At the same time, Scottie Berg wanted to salvage anything she could from her Ike damaged home.

Though more than 300 miles apart, the two women are now connected through an incredible twist of fate - and wind- that put a few of Berg’s most valued possessions in Cass’ hands.

Cass, a Corpus Christi teacher, and her husband, spent the last few weeks scouring the beach near their home to find usable scrap wood that washed ashore after Hurricane Ike.

“We were seeing all this stuff on the beach and one thing caught my eye. It was a bag with red foil Christmas balls in it buried under the sand,” Cass said. “It was kind of unusual to see.”

Inside the Ziploc brand bag were several Christmas tree ornaments - a small ceramic rocking horse, two wooden nutcrackers and a few homemade ones.

“I opened it (the bag) and they (the ornaments) were wet and sandy. The first one I pulled out was the rocking horse ornament. On the back it said, ‘To Brad from Mrs. Lindsey,” the mother of two said.

Another ornament in the bag, a beaded candy cane, was attached to a tag that had another piece to the puzzle - a first and last name: Brad Berg.

She decided to do what few others would have — she went home and began searching the internet for more clues.

“I found a lot of Bergs in Galveston, but I wasn’t getting many hits on (the name) Brad. There was one in Iowa and other listed in a football article in a newspaper in Port Arthur,” she said.

With that, Cass emailed The News Sports Editor Bob West.

“Dear PANews: I live in Corpus Christi, Texas and found some items washed up on the beach today with the name Brad Berg. I saw online that you have featured a Brad Berg last year in a football article. Do you have any contact information for him or his family? I would like to return these items to him,” her email read.

After a few phone calls by The News staff to Sabine Pass, where the article about Brad Berg said he played football, it was determined that the ornaments belonged to Scottie Berg, Brad Berg’s mother. With a person and address to go along with the name, Cass boxed up the salvaged ornaments and sent them to their rightful owner in the small community.

“When you lose your house, you’re so glad to get back anything,” Scottie Berg said. “Waiting on that box made me forget about everything for awhile.”

Sorting through the box of ornaments, Berg described the origin of each one.

“When my dad gives us Christmas gifts, he always puts little ornaments, like these, on the box,” she said of the little wooden Nutcrackers. “These red balls were from when the kids were selling things for a fundraiser. They were prettier, but they look pretty good for what they’ve been through.”

Berg’s now 18-year-old son, Brad, made the plastic beaded candy cane ornament when he was in the first grade and the rocking horse ornament was from one of his teachers, she said.

“My tree isn’t decorated with fancy ornaments, it’s all ornaments from my kids - ones they made in school,” Berg said.

Before the storm, Berg had prepared her Sabine Pass home as much as she could, boxing up cherished items and setting them off the floor - where she hoped they would be safe from flood waters.

“They were in the top of my closet. When the fell, I guess they floated out,” she said of how the ornaments made the trek from her Sabine Pass home to the beach in Corpus Christi.

Cass said she understands the importance of the ornaments, as a mother, a teacher and a daughter.

“My mom still has my candy cane that I made like that one,” she said.

When the two women talked, Cass said it was harder for her than it seemed for Berg.

“It was hard, emotionally,” she said. “It just kind of hit me, everything that happened to her.”

In 2005, Berg’s house was destroyed by Hurricane Rita and in 2007, her oldest son, Ryan, was killed in Iraq. Now, once again homeless after a devastating storm, Berg said the ornaments have lifted her spirits - though she is still missing items that were dear to her - including boxes that held Ryan’s military uniforms.

Knowing more about the Bergs, Cass said she’s certain it was more than the storm that brought the ornaments to her.

“The way that bag was buried in the sand, I believe there was some higher force that lead me to the bag,” Cass said. “Honestly, I didn’t say this to her, but I felt like it could’ve been her son trying to get a message to her.”

Whatever the reason the bag of ornaments washed up to Cass’ attention, she gave credit to Brad Berg for excelling in school.

“There’s credit to her son, Brad, for doing well in school or his name wouldn’t have been in paper,” she said. “I just wish we could find everybody’s things.”

And despite the fact that it’s only October, Berg said she’s ready for Christmas.