NILES SCHOOLS Items being sought for capsule

A dedication ceremony is open to the public.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- School officials are looking for a few good memories.
With the opening of Niles Middle School later this month, the board of education and administrators will carry on a tradition by placing a time capsule at the front entrance of the school. Donations for the capsule will be collected through this week, Principal Robert L. Marino said.
The copper box will be welded shut before the dedication ceremony, set for 9:30 a.m. Aug. 16. The ceremony will be followed by an open house of the school from 10 a.m. to noon.
Surprise at Edison
Last July, Marino said he and other educators were surprised to find a time capsule in the cornerstone of Edison Junior High School.
The fa & ccedil;ade of the building, erected in 1914, was being dismantled for relocation at the new school when the original copper box was found.
"They were taking the cornerstone out to bring it to the new school, and the foreman came to us and said he thought he found a time capsule," Marino said.
Included in the 88-year-old metal box was a copy of school board proceedings, a rolled-up stack of typed notes.
The records show that a resolution was passed approving funds for the building of the new high school, a four-room addition to another school and a new sanitation system for a building.
The resolution was for $195,000, a fraction of the cost of the new junior high building.
A newspaper dated Sept. 25, 1914, heralded the upcoming laying of the cornerstone. Also in the time capsule were an invitation to the cornerstone-laying Sept. 27, 1914, and a program from the historic day.
"A lot of that stuff is still at the preservationist's," Marino said.
Superintendent Patrick N. Guliano said administrators plan to donate many of the historical items found, including those located in the old vault at Edison, to the Niles Historical Society.
What's in new capsule
Marino said school officials actively sought donations for the new time capsule from each school in the district, as well as the public.
To date, items collected include newspapers documenting Sept. 11, 2001, and construction of the new school; a copy of the 2003 Edison Junior High yearbook; letters from elementary pupils describing school life in 2003; and a photograph of the laying of the original time capsule in 1914.
The photograph, complete with identification of the men in the picture, was a surprise arrival, Marino said.
In a letter dated from April of this year, Dr. Carl E. Solomonson of Mason City, Ill., said he wanted to make sure Niles had the pieces of history.
Solomonson writes that his parents were both 1917 graduates of Niles High School; Edison served as the high school until the 1950s. The picture was in his parents' papers, he said, and after they died, it came into his possession. After making several moves with Solomonson and his wife, the picture was found in a box recently, and Solomonson decided to donate it.
Marino and Guliano said although a dedication ceremony is set to bury the time capsule, there will be no instructions included on when it should be opened.
"That is up to the next generation," Guliano said.
To donate items, stop at the school administration office at 100 West St. or call (330) 652-0269.
slshaulis@vindy.com