The man who planted this piece of school history, former principal Norman Harsh, returned to the school to unveil the time capsule’s contents amid many “oohs” and “ahhs” of the crowd.
“This truly is a big deal for our school’s history,” said Annie Self, Weller PTO president, who estimated the crowd that night to be around 460. “We had people lined up against the wall; it was packed.”
From the 1985 time capsule, Harsh pulled out a scroll listing the students attending that year, a school yearbook, copies of the PTO newsletter, newspaper clippings and a mention of a donation made by the school to the renovation of the Statue of Liberty. Also inside was a similar scroll from the school’s original time capsule, planted in 1960 and unearthed in 1985.
To continue the tradition, this year’s class created a new time capsule, which will be encased in a wall inside the teachers’ lounge behind a plaque that asks that it be opened in May 2035.
According to Principal Theresa Gum, the new time capsule contains a scroll listing the staff and students, an article and poems about the Space Shuttle, copies of supermarket ads, a letter from Gum, information about current technology, pictures of student activities, a copy of the Boy Scout Handbook (since the PTO sponsors a troop), restaurant menus from Beef O’Brady’s and City Barbeque, and much more.
In honor of the occasion, the school also held an ice cream social and painted pavers for the playground.
“We went through 15 gallons of ice cream,” said Self, who was worried about running out. “We had three big spoonfuls left.”
The old time capsule is now on display at the school, which is at 9600 Sheehan Road.
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