By Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Where were you in ’92? Burying a time capsule, perchance?
Actually, officials are not sure about that date, but they’re looking into it after a crew digging up the old median area in the “island” in the Sweet Home Junior High parking lot found a time capsule apparently buried sometime between 1992 and 1994.
The time capsule was not marked and had become the topic of numerous rumors, said Vice Principal Terry Agustadt. People apparently knew there was a time capsule somewhere in the vicinity and had a number of ideas where it might be buried.
“It’s this urban legend, myth thing going on,” Augustadt said. Students would say their parents remember helping bury it – never mind that the timing doesn’t really work.
Principal Colleen Henry said someone told her it was buried by the art room, to the west of the island.
But the school had what turned out to be good information to sort it out.
Betty Kirk, head custodian, recalled that retired art teacher Jeri Hurf had mentioned the time capsule, said Henry, who contacted Hurf. The former teacher was able to tell them where the capsule was buried.
Kirk gave the details to construction crew members and they excavated it. The capsule is a plastic tube wrapped in plastic. It is roughly 3 feet tall and 10 inches across and probably weighs more than 30 pounds.
“It was leaking a little bit,” Henry said. “She put it in a container to drain.”
“It looks a little rough, like it went over Niagara Falls,” Augustadt said. Whatever is inside, “we’re really curious.”
Health teacher Craig Wilson, who attended SHJH from 1992 to 1994, remembers the time capsule.
“I didn’t remember it until Betty reminded me,” Wilson said.
“I just remember back then we had pride classes similar to what we have now,” he said. Each home room, possibly up to 20 classes, put something in the capsule. Wilson remembers that Hurf was in charge of burying it.
He doesn’t remember what’s in it or even what it looks like, he said.
“I imagine I’ll recognize it. It’s kind of exciting to see what’s going to be in it.”
Wilson thinks the school should bury another one in connection with the upcoming remodeling and construction project at the school, and seeing this one opened will probably stimulate ideas among the students.
Henry and Augustadt agree, and they want to connect the past to the future. School officials are already leaning on the theme of construction as a metaphor and motivation for students. Augustadt keeps miniature plastic hard hats handy, and posters proclaim a Lily Tomlin quote: “The road to success is always under construction.”
The construction work is already apparent at the school. The breezeway between the two main wings of the building has been enclosed. Fencing is up. Work has started in the parking lot itself.
It’s generating a buzz throughout the school, Augustadt said.
That’s about moving forward, but the time capsule gives them an opportunity to see where they’ve been and connect the school’s past to its future, remembering its history.
Henry said she would like the community involved, “making sure we involve students, family members, community members, former teachers.”
After opening the time capsule, at some point, the administrators would like to put a new time capsule in the ground.
Details about opening the time capsule, which will be open to the public, will be reported once the event is organized.
“This needs to be a celebration of our history to where we’re going,” Henry said. “We want to figure out a way to make a ceremony around it.”