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What would you put in time capsule?

So it’s 2061.

The graduating class at Crowe finally gets to open the time capsule that was placed there 50 years ago by their great grandparents.

What will it hold?

The excitement reaches a hushed silence as the bolts are removed, the dust brushed off and the creaking lid removed.

The class valedictorian puts her hands in and pulls out the first of many historic artifacts.

Huh?

What’s this?

A superintendent’s report? Documents written by inspectors, school board members, teachers?  A crumbling newsletter and disintegrating tee shirt?

With all due respect, I salute those who came up with a time capsule idea, and probably they did put other more interesting stuff in there, not mentioned in the Times article – at least I hope they did.

But it got me thinking. What would I put in such a capsule, if given the chance. After all, Crowe was my school too.

My first thought was a copy of Quotannis – the old school yearbook. My oldest daughter (grad 1985) agreed and thought a copy from each decade would be nice. It would show students of the future the hairstyles, fashion, and interests of their parents’ and grandparents’ day

I also thought some team trophies should be included since the school had such a strong athletic component.

I’d also throw in Mr. Weir’s smock – Ken Weir was an art teacher who always wore a white lab-coat-type smock. The year I graduated, some students stole it and tie-dyed it – a daring move in the days of “capital punishment.”

What about some 45 rpm records, Elvis, the Beatles; an 8-track tape cassette; CDs, a Commodore 64 computer – it’s a museum piece now – and maybe an X-Box game.

And why not some photos of the graffiti behind the hospital? Perhaps in 50 years it will be gone (hopefully) or covered by vegetation (or a new highway to Montrose).

All four of my children can also claim the school as their own. My ’85 grad’s fondest memory from high school was the Miss Crowe pageant. That’s when boys dressed up as girls and held a beauty contest. A photo of the hairy-legged winner would be a great addition to the capsule, she thought.

Her sister, grad ’89, had been an avid choir member and would love to bury her burgundy choir blazer and white dicky. She’d also include a recording of Bohemian Rhapsody (which frequent choirs performed), a bottle of Aquanet hair spray (representing all those teased bouffant hairdos), one of the old green lockers, Mr. Mendosa’s pipe, and a copy of the Crysallids – a book her English class studied in Grade 11. (It was nice bringing back the memory of that book as it was the same one MY English class studied and I had the pleasure of re-reading it when she brought it home with her homework.)

Without hesitation, my son, grad 1991, said he’d include a copy of Maxi’s Manifesto – a document his history teacher, Mr. Maxi, handed out at the beginning of each year. He would also include one of Mr. Shimizu’s Camel cigarettes.

His wife and my youngest daughter both graduated in 1997. Both thought the school mascot, the Crowe, should be included – the one that was kept in a glass cage and was stolen by each subsequent grad class.

If the time capsule was big enough, my youngest grad would like to include the apple vending machine and the goat trail (or photos thereof).

I’m sure the list of memories could fill an entire landfill site if each person who attended Crowe could add even one item.

Yes, it was just a building, but over 60 years it must have accumulated a ton of memories.

What would you put in the time capsule?