Ohio officials to bury new time capsules
Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS
A time capsule is buried somewhere in Madison County, Ohio.
Officials are certain of it. But no one seems to know exactly where it is.
“We haven’t dug the first hole yet, but we know it exists,” said County Commissioner David Dhume. “It has to be somewhere.”
Even as they search for that box of old whatever-ness, they are planning a new one.
As part of Madison County’s bicentennial this year and the city of London’s bicentennial in 2011, a committee is stockpiling items to be sealed away in a vault and buried at a new Bicentennial Park at the edge of downtown London.
All that will go inside hasn’t been decided (and they wouldn’t want it printed anyway, because the eventual discovery of its secrets is half the fun). But Dhume said they know this much will be included: a sergeant’s hat and badge from London Police Chief David Wiseman, Sheriff Jim Sabin’s uniform and the jersey worn by the coach of this year’s Jonathan Alder state championship baseball team.
“We want things that say, ‘Here’s what we lived like in Madison County,’” Dhume said.
Even in this age of information saturation, time capsules remain popular.
Dublin will put one in the foundation of a shelter house in October to celebrate the city’s bicentennial, and the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department will encase one in concrete under a park bench next month to recognize the department’s 100th anniversary.
Recreation and Parks Director Alan McKnight said it will include, among other things, photos from current events, parks brochures and a letter from a longtime employee.
Among the organizations contributing items to Dublin’s vault are the chamber of commerce, the school district and the historical society.
Until the cities bury the capsules, the collected items are being stored, catalogued and treated for preservation.
“This gives us a chance to send a message to future generations, something tactile and personal,” said Dublin spokesman David Ball. “Of course, it’s a quaint idea, but that’s part of the charm.”
History professor Paul Hudson couldn’t agree more. The co-founder of the International Time Capsule Society at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta said America has a long-standing love affair with time capsules.
“There’s something primal about buried treasure,” Hudson said. “It’s like putting your hand in wet cement. It marks that you were there, that you made a difference.”
It’s too bad, then, that most time capsules are never opened, he said.
Hudson estimates as many as 100,000 time capsules are buried around the world, most in unknown locations. He says plaques help, and the society offers a free, online registration.
“But if you bury it like a corpse, it is dead, out of sight and out of mind,” he said. “Time capsules should become your friend. Put them in public, hold birthday parties for them.”
When Dublin asked residents for suggestions for what should go in its bicentennial capsule, city officials instead got all sorts of tips and rumors of where other ones are buried. So officials went hunting.
They found one: an old steamer trunk in the attic at city hall. It has been there since 1987, when Dublin graduated from village to city. A note says it should be opened in 2012.
Officials wonder whether to open it a tad early, maybe in October when they bury the new one during the Dublin Historical Society’s annual Heritage Day.
But Ball wonders aloud: “Maybe that would be cheating.”
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