Sean C. Morgan
Since nobody really knew what to expect, members of the Sweet Home High School Class of 1973 were relieved as they opened Saturday, July 28, a time capsule purportedly buried by themselves.
Problem was, nobody could recall doing that – at all.
So when they breached the concrete container, which had apparently been buried since 1973 at the city Wastewater Treatment Plant, they were a little curious and a bit uncertain.
“Nobody has a clue,” said class member Laurie Carlson before the concrete container was opened. “If we put it together, it would’ve been in the sixth grade.”
The time capsule had instructions to open it in 2013, 40 years after it was buried. When city staff realized it was there and was five years late for opening, the city contacted the Sweet Home School District.
Public Works staff removed the capsule from the ground in late spring, and the School District stored it until the reunion Saturday of the Class of 1973, held Saturday at Chuck and Cindy Sieg’s Valley View Ranch south of Holley.
The plaque on the time capsule indicated it might have been buried by a history class, but no one remembered doing that either, Carlson said. They wondered if it were perhaps the freshman class, the Class of 1978, that buried it in fall 1973. That theory turned out to be partially correct, and the mystery was mostly solved. Evidence discovered after opening it proved it was buried no earlier than 1973, as indicated on the plaque.
Scott Barnes took a sledgehammer to the concrete pipe attached to a concrete block and plaque. Shattering the pipe revealed a pump can. Bob Dalton, Dave Ego and other class members began pulling the contents from the can.
Inside they found books, coins and other items from nearly a half century ago.
Out came a dime from 1969, followed by a damp copy of the Guinness Book of World Records 1971-72; a copy of the Associated Press Almanac for 1973; business card calendars for Keesecker Insurance – which still exists, and Ron’s Villa Pharmacy, which does not; a safety razor; a G.U.M. toothbrush in a package; Close Up toothpaste; “The Book of Freedom;” a newspaper story about how Shanghai was the leading city in the world; a letter to the editor; a Sweet Home phone book addressed to Darryl Smith; airmail stamps for 15 cents, 12 cents and 9 cents; a 1968 quarter; a 1967 nickel; and pennies from 1967 and 1971.
Someone had written a letter in blue ink, but moisture made it illegible.
The reason no one in the Class of 1973 could remember the time capusle became clear wiping away the dust and grit of more than four decades from the sides of the can. Students had etched their names on the side of the can, and members of the Class of 1973 recognized some of the names as younger students.
Among them were Dale Wernicke, Charlotte Alford, Bill Anderson ’76; Bev Solomon, – Ferguson, Cindy Hugh, Rhonda Walker, Cindy Ellis, Victor Horner –gan Tyler, T.C., Mark Davis and Gwen.
“That was kind of cool,” Ego said. “I don’t remember it. It might have been one of the classes (attending) during our senior year.”
Greg Ego, Dave’s twin brother, who noted that the Class of 1873 is the only Sweet Home High School class to win Class of the Year four years in a row, thought “the excitement was pretty cool, but it doesn’t really answer the question.”
“It’s pretty much what I expected,” Barnes said. “A nothing burger, but it was interesting, the whole process.”
Carlson was relieved to find no evidence that the Class of 1973 was involved.
When The New Era published its first story about the time capsule, in May, “I truly thought I was losing it,” she said, because she didn’t remember it at all.
“We would’ve had much cooler stuff,” Carlson said, noting the lack of music in particular.
“Maybe an eight-track,” Greg Ego said.
“We challenge the Class of 2019 to put together a time capsule,” Carlson said. She suggested they put in things they think they’ll remember and find meaningful in 25 years.
Ego suggested using something sealed against the moisture – something besides a pump can.