Contribute To The Tercentennial Time Capsule

By Kendra Bobowick

Secrets will be buried in the ground now opened for excavation in front of Edmond Town Hall as tercentennial memorial plans take shape.

Behind the project is Brigette Sorensen, who plans on assembling a time capsule within the next several says. She said, “Time capsules aren’t unknown. People use them to mark celebrations.”

This capsule will mark the tercentennial passing in 2005, commemorating Newtown’s 300th anniversary. She invites residents to “respond with something they remember 2005 by, be creative in your response.”

And be quick.

She plans to bury the time capsule next Thursday, May 3. Those with trinkets, hospital bands, concert ticket stubs, news clippings, etc can drop by the town clerk’s office with donations. Ms Sorensen asks that those making contributions provide their name. “We want to label what’s in there with a brief description.” The capsule is meant to help those who unearth it in 100 years “get a look at what life was like 100 years ago,” she said.

Town Historian Dan Cruson said, “The thing about digging things up 100 years later is seeing things people thought were important. They offer a tangible link to the past.”

Newtown is already home to several capsules that could have used better record keeping. The Congregational Church Parish Hall capsule was found recently when Newtown Savings Bank placed an addition on its Main Street branch where the hall once stood. He noted that another time capsule at Hawley School is also missing.

“I think it’s under the parking lot,” he said. He also believes that a capsule rests near the Soldiers and Sailors monument.

He does not want the tercentennial capsule to be lost. “I will be watching carefully to see where they put it so I can dig it up a 100 years from now,” he said.