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Home My WebLink AboutMinutes - 4/19/1999 - Millennium Committee Millennium Committee Report Monday, April 19, 1999 7:00 P.M. L Attendees: Chairman Steven Cuda; Lisa Benoit and Sheila Biell of Plan It Partners; Joyce Story; Annie Cuda; and Marci Geraghty Update: • Millennium Praise Celebration - Bobbie Pantaleo has been working very diligently behind the scenes arranging this celebration scheduled for January 2, 2000. A contract was signed with McHenry School District 156 to hold this event at the West Campus High School Auditorium from 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. The fee for this is $311.00. Bobbie will be attending the June 28 Committee Meeting. • Press Releases - A copy of the newspaper article from the May 18, 1999 Northwest Herald reporting on the winners of the Banner Contest is attached for your review. A picture of the winners with Chairman Cuda is scheduled to appear in the "Neighbors" section of the Northwest Herald this Saturday, May 22, 1999. Articles on the Millennium Celebration will appear in the next issue of the `- McHenry Area Chamber Newsletter and the City of McHenry Newsletter. • Time Capsule - A letter from Lisa Benoit (formally of "Event Planner") and information on the Millennium Time Capsule is enclosed. At the last meeting, Lisa introduced her business partner Sheila Biell to the Committee. She explained to us that they have changed the name of their enterprise to Plan It Partners. • Millennium Celebration Budget - Corporate Sponsors who have generously donated prize money are Mr. & Mrs. Gary Lang, Gary Lang Auto Group; TCI of Illinois; McHenry Corporate Center; Prime commercial; Brake parks; Fabrik; Follett Software; Amcore bank; and HFK. To date, total dollars pledged is $7,000; total received is $6,500. Below is a report of the Committee's spending: Total Dollars expected: $7,000 Total Dollars received: $6,500 Banner Contest Prize Money ($500) Praise Celebration Auditorium Rent ($311) Total: $5,689 � � • Quilt Case - Nancy Fike of the City of McHenry Landmark Commission has provided the Committee with the name of the company that designed and constructed a Quilt Case for the McHenry County Government Center. It is a 79x79-oak frame case; approximate cost is $2,500. Mr. & Mrs. Gary Lang donated $2,500 specifically for the Sesquicentennial Quilt! More details to follow. • Millennium Quilt - Pursuant to the last Committee meeting, an invitation will be extended to the members of the McHenry County Quilt Club to attend a Committee meeting and discuss plans for a Millennium Quilt. The next meeting of the Millennium Committee is May 24, 1999 at 7:00 P.M. Your attendance is appreciated. � � � � � �� g�,� �� '�� . A �, � � ��. �� . . �� $ �� o �� d � :� � � �� . �, x �� . �� . � .� �� .�� , �� « � � ��;� . C� ;�� R � s . �� • e � . �� N s �� , � � �� '� � V � JM' � � � ��. � '� �� .. g. s�� K� �� '� � � ��, �. � � � � . � -�� '� '� � �� . �' � �� . �9 � � p �•��. �� b �� u p, ' �� u.�� .� �.� �0• .�� .� �� ... � �.�� O •��, � ; o'�Mu � •� � � y W � � M � �� 4� � � a � ~ � � � �� s g,� „ � R �. n �. id � �$ a� �� g �� .� � � � � � v1 • . � � � � . �� . �. � ��.o � ..• a� �:e r�� '-• � , 5.. � .. • . .. -. .:�:-,� ,_. ..q -� �.. . T0'd 9T60S8EST8 Q1tf213H 1S3MN1tJON Wd 8Z: T0 66-0Z-AtlW . • � � � PI.�N IT 780 White Pine Circle,Lake in the Hills, IL 60102 P A R T N E R s (847) 854-4346,fax:�847) 854-5839 April 16, 1999 Mayor Steven J. Cuda City of McHenry 333 South Green Street McHenry,IL 60050-5495 RE: McHenry's Millennium Time Capsule Dear Mayor Cuda., During the last Millennium Committee meeting(March 22nd), I volunteered the services of my partner, Sheila Biell, and myself to head up the Time Capsule project for the Millennium event. We are gathering ideas and items that would be placed in McHenry's capsule. Attached,you will find a preliminary list of these items. Over the next few weeks,we suggest that each member of the committee take a few minutes to add additional comments and suggestions. � They can call me @(847) 854-4346 so that I may add to our list in time for the next meeting. During the next meeting(May 24th),we suggest that the proposed time capsule items be voted on. From there, Sheila and I will actively pursue getting the items for the capsule. Our goal is to collect the items by October of this year. This should give us a few months to finalize the size of the capsule and wrap up any last minute items. Additionally attached,you will find some interesting articles and preliminary capsule prices from an organization on the web. I will get together with Joyce Story who gathered initial prices from local funeral homes to compare notes and move forward so that we can address the funding for the capsule as quickly as possible. If you should have any questions, concerns or comments, please direct them to me at this upcoming committee meeting or call me at the number mentioned above. Thank you for allowing us to introduce ourselves and our company through the participation on this committee. ly, - / - � Li . Benoit enclosures cc: Marcia Geraghty, Millennium Committee Members :.� . `I The McHenry Millennium TIME CAPSULE Preliminary Ideas 4/16/99 L McHenry Specific: •Aerial Shots of McHenry 1999 •Historical photos of the development to date • Aerial Shot/ Standard Photo of burial site for the capsule 1999 (include brief history) •Maps •Historical Sites •List of local businesses/organizations(use of business cards,pens, etc-creative) •Newspaper articles of the current happenings of McHenry. •McHenry's most influential people(top 10,top 20, --???) •Preliminary proposals/future goals(buildings, etc...)for the upcoming years •McHenry's visitor guide/tourism info. •Newspaper ads of local grocery stores and more. •Restaurant Menus and critic's reviews. •McHenry's Millennium Brochure(pictures) -how it was celebrated. • What the Millennium means to the citizens of McHenry: •Letters from all ages school children •Letters from the elderly • Interviews with McHenry's eldest citizens on the changes they've witnessed •Essay contest • possibly even a word or two on the controversial revised"pledge" � •How McHenry's celebration compares to other cities/states. More General: • World News(Kosovo,Clinton Scandal,etc.) • The Y2K scare • Computer Craze in general • e-mail vs. Regular mail • Websites popping up ovemight • area-code problems • cell phones, faxes,modems and more � � •technology,in general • CURRENCY(before it all changes) • Sports(home-run craze reviving baseball,MJ retiring,Tiger Woods) •Movies,Music,Theatre and the literary trends • Current trends: •Make-up/Hair •Fashion • "Lingo" •Fitness(Bily Blank's Tae Bao) • Current problems with Education(overcrowding of grade schools) •Health care •Health Scares-Cancer vs. Aids/Anribiotics of the Future • Science: Cloning/Limb Transplants,etc.../Multiple Births of 7 & 8 �-' •Most influenrial people of the world(top 10,top 20 -- `???) • Animals(extinction/rare) •Plant life/Farming � Page 1 of 2 Time Capsules&Future Packaging : Time Capsules �-- & More from Future Packaging& Preservation The Time Capsule is a sealed container with messages to the future.It is a snapshot of the present which is preserved as a Gift you send to the Future. We supply govemment,companies, schools,churches,museums,individuals,artists& organizations with these high quality,affordable stainless steel Tune Capsules. We've been in business over 12 years,and we have plenty of experience with"really long term storage." We believe in telling the truth,too.Don't believe everything you read about time capsules. When you read that capsule so-and-so will last 5,000 years,how can you truly believe that? Have they tested it? We don't make any such claims. We use stainless steel exclusively,because that's the material our metallurgist and materials experts have recommended as best. For our Type 4000 series capsules,the closure is a simple welded one. And a welded closure is the best type. "We honor the past, celebrate the present, and embrace the future...." (from the Seattle Times'Emptoyee Signature Scroll, I992) o Time Capsules: Prices� o Hints o Photos o Our Si�nature Scrolls• 300-vear permanent uauer,comes with Archival Pens o "Archivally Speaking," Our Catalog of AcidFree,Permanent Suppl�es: Pa e 1 Pa�e 2 �Pa�e 3 I o Time Ca sule Preservation Su lies: What You'll Need to Preserve Your Own Time Ca�sule o Time Capsule Kits: Include a sam�ling of items most likely used in various sized: ca�sules � o Info Books about time capsule ceremonies,time causule historv,how to bury,etc. o New Book� "How to Preserve Items in a Sealed Time Causule" o How to F�ure the Size of Time Capsule You Need o Bronze Plaques For more informarion,please contact: Future Packaging & Preservation PO Box 4001,Covina CA 91723 1580 W. San Bernardino Rd#C,Covina CA 91722 . . Toll Free Order Line: (800) 786-6627 Technical Help: (626)966-1955 We now accept these credit cards: Visa,MasterCard, and Discover/Nows. � � �rder Form L-' �r��renkQ(a�,mindsnrin com Updated on 19 March 1999, {t S O 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 Future Packaging.Al!rights reserved http://futurepkg.home.mindspring.com/ 4/7/99 , . M How to Figure Time Capsule Size � Page 1 of 1 Time Capsule Information from Future Packaging & �" Preservation All right,you want a time capsule.Now,how do you figure how big it has to be? . Gather up your items and place them into standard-sized boxes. Xerographic(photocopy)boxes work well for this purpose.They measure about 17"x 11 1/2"x 8 1/2". (These boxes work well for shipping items,too. Just use plenty of cushioning,and be sure it's properly taped. Use strapping tape around middle of each girth..) • Don't figure on just piling up the boxes and measuring them,though. If you have more than one of these boxes(or if you have a poster or large sized item),find a somewhat lazger box.You may find you can get the contents of several of these size boxes into one 12"x 12"x 24"box,for instance.It really depends upon your items'size and density. • Make sure there's at least 1/4 as much empty room in the capsule you eventually order,to allow for our cushioning and separator papers/envelopes/boxes.For a 12"x 12"x 24" container,allowing 6"of space at the top should do the trick. • Another reason to allow extra space at the top is to allow for heat dissipation after the top is welded.We like at least 2"for this.The I/4 empty room rule should take care of this. • �New Tip: We've figured up a perfect size if you have just the one xerographic box full of your items. It's the Type 4000(or the new 4500 MP type),of the size 10 x 10 x 18" �� , . ��«,� � Hom ore information in our boo ime Capsule Supplies Most recent update:23 Nov 1998,For more information about either website or its content,please contact:.Ianet Reinholc� turepk�a,mindspring.com Copyright O 1997-8:Future Packagi»g.All rights reserved. � http://futurepkg.home.mindspring.com/tcsize.htm 4/7/99 • ' � FPP: What Are Ow Time Capsule Types? � Page 1 of 2 � What Are Our Time Capsules? We offer 4 styles of time capsules,and they're all made of stainless steel. They vary in size and type,depending on what you are looking for. The Type 3000 This is our Bolted Style Time Capsule. It has a specially designed, extra-thick flange so that you ccro safely close it yourself. The flange includes a silicon O-Ring and"bli�rd"bolts. We have selected silicon because of its terriftc aging characteristics, and the "blind"design mecros no holes go daw»i�ito the capsule interior. The stainless steel we use is either 304 or 304L,although custom materials can be requested. Usual prices start at about$800 and two basic siaes: 12"x 12"x?and 14"x 14"x?. Custom lengths are available with this type. Preservation kits are available. Normal �IYIISJt 1S "2B"plain. E�rgravirrg of the capsule top is available. See our more detailed Type 3000 Price Sheet. The Type 4000 "PI" This is our Preservation Included Time Capsule. A simple, welded stainless steel of the 304 or 309L rype, this capsule ccm be made to almost cmy dimensions. It includes professional preservation of your items. Preservation means that proper enclosures are given to items(For example: AcidFree errvelopes,folders, cmd boxes for papers and photos;MVP bags for wooden items, leather items, avrd metals;AcidFree Tissues and cloths for textile items;Anti-Tarnish chemicals for metals;and A�iti-Static metallized bags for computer equipment and the like. In other words,your items get what they need to last the required years.) Preservation also includes the preparation of the capsule's interior errvironment � and a controlled seaL Air is frrst dried out via silica gel materials, and then immediately prior to welding closec� the appropriate amount of Oxygen Absorber is placed within. We can also provide argon and nitrogen purging if deemed necessary. Prices start at about$400. Normal finish is "2B"which is very plain. Engraving of the capsule top is available. See our more detailed Type 4000 Price Sheet. The Type 4500 "MP" Yery similar to the Type 4000 style of time capsule shell, this type doesn't irrclude the Professional Preservation. It is an affordable alternative designed for museum folks and those who are knawledgeable about docume»t preservation and safe artifact storage. It also can be made to almost cmy dimensior�s. Certain e�cpectations of you are assumec� Send for our free "Expectations"booklet if you have questions about this.Like the Type 4000, the MP includes the preparation of the capsule's interior errvironment and a controlled seal. Air is first dried out via silica gel materials, cmd then ' � immediately prior to welding closec� the appropriate amount of Oxygen Absorber is placed within. We ccm also provide argon and nitrogen purging if deemed necessc�y for a nominal extra fee. Prices start at about$300. Normal finish is "2B"which is very plain, but special finishes can usually be applied Engravi�rg of the capsule top is adso availabJe. See our more detailed Type 4500 Price Sheet. The Type 5000 This is our newest little fellow! A long, slender individual Time Capsule made of 18/8 Stainless Steel, it is cylindrical in shape. It comes with a mini preservation kit amd instructions. You may opt 10 seal it with our special sealant, or simply keep it on the shelf to open later. Its frnish is polishec� so it's beautiful to look at Engraving of this capsule is available. Prices start at about$20, so it's very affordable! A�td,just in time for the Mille�mium celebrations! �- How Do Our Time Capsules Compare With the Competition? We like to think of a recent comment made to us by a museum customer in South Carolina. He said: http://futurepkg.home.mindspring.com/what.htm 4/7/99 � Pa e 2 of 2 FPP: What Are Our Time Capsule Types? g "We've done an extensive study of all the time capsule vendors we could finc� Do you �-- folks realize you've got the best time capsule design for the price anywhere on the Internet?" (Couldn't have said it beiter ourselves...) Future Packaging & Preservation 1580 W San Bernardino Rd#C,Covina CA 91722-3457,Te1626-966-1955,or fax 626-966-5779 Call Toll Free in US: 800-786-6627 Page Revision Date: 20 Nov 1998 Send commenls via email to: �utur�kQ(a�mindspring com Copyright 1998-99 by Future Packagi�rg&Preservation. AIl rights reserved. � � http://futurepkg.home.mindspring.com/what.hhn 4/7/99 The SIGNATURE SCROLL� �� Page 1 of 1 Standard Bronze PLAQUES � Crder No. Description Size Letters Price C BP86 Small Rectangular 8" x 6" about 48 $151 � CP81210 Medium Rectangular 12" x 10" about 120 $272 CBP2012 Large Rectangular 20" x 21" about 240 $452 Helps Ensure Your Capsule Isn't Lost! • These heavy duty bronze plaques are one way to"mark the spot" and make sure your capsule won't be forgotten or. lost. • For other standard sizes or a quote for a non-standard plaque,please contact us. Included Price includes one(1)raised letter per square inches(see letter allowannces). Other projects require custom artwork that needs to be bid on a case by case basis. DELIVERY �.. • Freight is incIuded in standard sized plaques. • Allow 3 to 4 weeks lead time for most orders. Please provide your instructions and shipping information in writing, preferably on your letterhead. Future Packaging&Preservation PO Box 4001,Covina,CA 91723-0401 Info:(626)966-1955,Faac:(626)966-5779 Credit Cazd Orders: (800)786-6627 or(626)966-1955 Hours:Mon-Thurs. 8:00 am-5:00 m Pacific Time Back to Home Page Time_Ca�sule info Archiva!Aibum For more information,please contact:Janet Rernhold u rture nin rin .com Mosf recent update: 19 hTarch 1999 Cc�1996, 1997, 199F�, 1999 Future Packaging.All rights reserved http://pages.prodigy.com/timecaps/fppS.him webmaster:Maverick V � http://futurepkg.home.mindspring.com/fpp5.htm 4/7/99 ' �"� Page 1 of 4 Time Capsule Crazy TI�1V[E CAPS�UL� �C:RAZY � Whether They're Done For Historic Preservation or Mere Vanity,the Approachin� Millennium H�s Sparked Increasing Interest in Burying a Slice of Today's Life Monday,July 7, 1997 gy MpRGp HARAKAS Staff Writer "Lifestyle"Section, Florida SLIN-SENTINEL, �1997 �n a way,it's SO quintessentially American,never letting go,never giving up,insisting yourself beyond the normal limits to a presence 100 or 1,000 yeazs hence. We're talking time capsules here, and on this eve of a new millennium, America is going, as Paul Hudson says, "time capsule crary".) "There is an explosion right now,"says Hudson,cofounder of the International Time Capsule Society,which is headquartered at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta,home of what many consider the first modern time capsule and undoubtedly the most encylopedic. "We're getting about a dozen inquiries a day;'Says Hudson. That's a quantum leap over the two or three a day of 1990,the year the society began. I-iistoric milestones tend to trigger a flurry of interest in interring the present for the future. The desire churned in America 's centennial year, 1876.It swelled again 100 years later with the Bicentennial.And in 1992,on the SOOth anniversary of "Christopher Columbus'so-called discovery of America,"says Hudson,it spiked. Call it vanity if you wish. "Time capsules give one a chance to write oneself into history,"Hudson says. "You can express an independent voice into the future." Of the esrimated 10,000 time capsules scattered across the planet, 1,400 aze L-- registered with the society.For better or for worse,odds are most will be lost,forgotten or stolen. So it is with the capsule buried at Nova Blanche Forman Campus in 1966. On its 30th anniversary,the school went to dig up this gift from the past. "We couldn't find it," says Cynthia Hanna,associate principal. Word of the missing capsule spread far and wide. "We've had a lot of people calling from all over the country, sa.ying it's over here by this tree,or by that tree,"Hanna says. Still the capsule has not been found. Students put together a new one in 1996,which they sank outside the front door.This time,to make certain the effort wasn't wasted,they marked the location with a plaque. At their best,time capsules give future generations a glimpse of previous lifestyles:the pride,achievements,dreams and trivia. � � "I call it instant archaeology,"Hudson says. One can only imagine what future probers mi$ht conclude from the random stuff so ceremoniously deep-sixed. Barbie dolls,high school sports uniforms,an embalmed fish,the feathers of a condor,flowers from a float in the Toumament of Roses parade,the photo of a beauty queeq trading cards,a Twinkie,PopTarts,a Buns of Steel video,the CD-ROM game Myst. Used to be,Ivtchael Jackson memorabilia was big.That mania has been displaced by anything linked to Tiger Woods. Which brings up a cnicial point: Get creative.Remember,Hudson says, "You're maldng a statement." Denmark understands. A small country of only about 5 million people,it initiated a yearlong,nationwide project last year that produced 900 individual time capsules. � "What they wanted to do was create a cultural fingerprint," says Hudson,who traveled to Copenhagen to witness the outpouring of 16,000 people,representing,among others,nursing homes,schools and community centers. http://fu�urepkg.home.minds�ring.com/hudson.htm 4/7/99 �+ Page 2 of 4 Time Capsule Crazy ' The results,captured in clear,acrylic containers,are remarkable,and certainly revealing. A container of dolis in contorted � positions speaks of the problem of overcrowded kindergartens.The capsule of dirty heroin needles,contributed by a prostitute,is at once shocking and sad. Of course,there is also a statement on cuhura]imperialism,represented by a Coca- Cola can. The Japanese are working pn what promises to be one of the most intriguing time capsules.Called the BESTCapsule,its theme is biology,environment and science. "There will be some seeds, Some DNA,maybe even brain tissue,"says Hudson. It will all be kept in a cryogenic chamber to be thawed later. A sister capsule, a symbolic one,will be buried in Antarctica at Dome F.where temperatures run 70 below zero. �C'.,�`l-.�C)1��5 nru! Cryo�J�t�ics? A far cry from the first time capsule,organized by civil war widow Mrs. Charles Diehm and exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadeiphia. "It was called the century safe,and it was literally a safe,"says Hudson.Diehm was not very imaginative." The contents were"very Caucasian,"mostly autographs and photographs of notables of the day,nothing particularly inspirecl. "It was supposed to be sealed in 1876 and they weren't finished unti11878.Then they had to find a home for it." Diehm wanted the safe secured in the rotunda of the U.S.Capitol.Before long,a political controversy erupted,with people questioning Diehm's morives. "There is always a promotional element when you do a time capsule,when you're � writing yourself into history,"says Hudson. The safe was finally stashed beneath a staircase in the Capitol where it languished for years,forgotten. "If you've ever seen photographs of a presidential inaugurarion in the early part of the century,that time capsule was undemeath that platform,"says Hudson. The safe was rediscovered in the 1950s and opened on schedule during the 1976 Bicentennial. The term"time capsule"was actually coined by George Pendray,a publicist for Westinghouse,who incidentally, also gave us the word Laundromat. "It was a great name...time capsule.It needed no explanation.And it caught on overnight." Like the later term rock'n'roll,time capsule was picked up in other languages untranslated. The Westinghouse creation was the centerpiece of the company's pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair.Designated for opening 5,000 years later,the torpedo-shaped capsule was sunk into a lined tunnel,cailed a time well. "That,"says Hudson,"sort of created a precedent where people believed you had to bury time capsules." Hudson actually recommends not burying the capsule.That old saw about being out of sight,out of mind is correct. Burying simply increases the chances of the capsule being forgotten,he says. `- The first,certified modern time capsule,says Hudson,is Oglethorpe's own Crypt of Civilizaton,begun in 1938 and sealed in 1940.While enormous(20 feet long, 10 feet wide and 10 feet high),it is not as large as the 10,000 cubic foot Tropico Time Tunnel in Rosamond,Calif. Still,it is remarkable for the breadth of its contents. The Guinness Book of World http://futurepkg.home.mindspring.com/hudson.htm 4/7/99 � �; Page 3 of 4 Time Capsule Crazy Records calls the Crypt"the first successful attempt to bury a record of this culture for any future inhabitants or visitors to the planet Earth." `� Included in the Crypt's huge array of items are a set of Lincoln Logs, a Donald Duck do000 a�seon microfiim �cludang female mannequins,newsreels,recordings,a radio,a toaster,a pacifier,more than 640, p g � the works of Shakespeare and the Koran,drawings of various inventions and a device to teach English to the excavators of the future. "You name it and it's in there,"says Hudson.There is even a power magrnfying glass to read the microfilm in case electricity is an antiquity no longer used. The Crypt,not accidentally,resembles the interior chamber of an Egyptian PYramid. "In a sense,the pyramids were time capsules,"says Hudson.Both provide a kind of snapshot of life at a particular time. The Crypt was the brainchild of Thomwell Jacobs,president of Oglethorpe who advanced his idea in the November 1936 issue of Scientific American magaz►ne, says Hudson.The opening date engraved on the crypt is 8113.That's because Jacobs believed civilization began,according to the Egyptian calendaz,in 4241 BC. Since 6177 yeazs of civilization had already passed when he hatched his idea,he projected an equal time into the future to give descendants a peek of Iife at the midpoint of human history. Few of today's time capsule enthusiasts are thinking that far ahea.d. Most seem content with the notion of reasserting themselves in the next century,atthough an artist in Berkeley,Calif.,has her eye on the third millennium. Janet Reinhold,owner of Future Packaging and Preservarion in Covina,Ca1if.,provided the engaved,stainless steel �. container that the artist has filled with her works and that of friends. "It's a thousand-year capsule she intends to pass down from generation to generation,"says Reinhold Included in the cache are water colors,a small handwoven basket,m'n�ed media works and a journal. The artist has the sealed container displayed for now in her house. "It's painted blue,and looks like a work of art," says Reinhold. While corporations(celebrating new structures)>commuc►ity organizarions and politicians remain the primary consumers of time capsules,as the millennium approaches,families and individuals increasingly aze caching in on the idea. � � Crrandfathers aze assembling time capsules for grandchildren.Parents are putting them together for newborns,and kids are doing them just for the heck of it. "I wish I had put my baseball cards in one when I was a Idd,"says Hudson.Yet he knows if he had,odds are he still wouldn't be gloating over his prescience.Like most other folks,he says, "I probably would have forgotten about it. " [illustratiordJERE WARREN(color)Drawin :Girl o ning time sule marked"not to be opened unti12097."J r!.: � � For more information o�:either ihis website or time capsules in general,please contact the folks at futrirenkQ(d�mirrdspring com http://futurepkg.home.mindspring.com/hudson.htm 4/7/99 , Time Capsule Crazy � Page 4 of 4 � Most recent z�pdate:23 Nov 1998 http://futurepkg.home.mindspring.com/ 01997 Florida Sun-SentineL All rights reserved � � http://futurepkg.home.mindspring.com/hudson.htm 4/7/99 • .. ' . The Riverside Centennial Time Capsule Page 1 of 2 The County of Riverside Catifornia.USA � Gi�•ing Residents of 2494 a Look at Things Past by Jack Robinson,The Press Enterprise01994 The Press-Enterprise The county's time capsule,which will be buried in May,will include a bottle of wine,water samples and pictures. RIVERSIDE, CA In the ancient courthouse, dwarfed by 800-story buildings that surround it downtown,gather Riverside County's leading citizens of 2094.They stare into a jagged hole in the floor. What's this?A bottle of wine...a$100 bill...a picture of rush-hour tra�c on Highway 91...What's a highway? "Hopefulty in the future people will look at that and laugh," said Riverside County Historian Diana Seider. She and a committee of county citizens have chosen objects for a time capsule to be buried on May 9,the county's 101 st birthday. The committee sort��d through a long catalog of ideas,many volunteered by the public,to arrive at a tentative list approved this week by the Board of Supervisors. Some of the items are meant to give future Riverside County citizens a look at animals and places that may disappear within 100 yeazs. These include pictures of]ocal endangered species--such as the Stephens'kangaroo rat and fringe-toed lizard--the quarry neaz Eagle Mountain where a mammoth landfill is planned and a tape recording of American Indian languages still spoken in Riverside County. � Others were chosen to give future citizens a grasp of ordinary life in Riverside County circa 1994. "One of the things we wanted a smattering of is the sense of our lives,"traffic jams and all,Seider said. The time capsule will include samples of water from the Santa Ana and Colorado rivers,a chemical analysis of the county's air,maps and pictures of the county today. Weeded out of the final list were some of the wackier ideas: a whole kangaroo rat(alive or dead not specified)>a Nintendo computer game cartridge. Other items will depict the county's first 100 years and last year's centennial celebration:pins,bumper stickers and one of the county's bottles of centennial wine. tilso to be included are newspaper articles about the centennial celebration,including those late last year about a controversy over a$5,500 centennial contribution to a political campaign. The goal of the time capsule is to show history � � "as it exists,not as we often want it to be portrayed," Seider said. In a further effort to send an honest message to the future,the committee expects to choose by lottery a sampling of letters from citizens--sealed to prevent censorship. "It's an opportunity to get real candid glimpses of tife," Seider said. "So often what comes in time capsules is a real selected version of history as we want it to be interpreted in the future." Another selection of randomly chosen letters will be from students asked to write about what they expect from the future. All of this will go into a stainless steel box 30 inches by 24 inches by 18 inches to be supplied by Future Packaging,a Covina company that specializes in designing time capsules and preparing their contents. � Riverside County's choice of contents is tamer than some,Future Packaging president Janet Reinhold said.A 1989 capsule buried on Olvera Street by the City of Los Angeles included a golf club and a grunion preserved in a bottle,for example. http://futurepkg.home.mindspring.com/rivrside.htm 4/7/99 The Riverside Centennial Time Capsule �, Page 2 of 2 But Reinhold endorsed the county's effort to provide the future an honest view of life today. � "What I recommend people do is envision a museum of the future," she said.Items included should be"as varied as possible--not just items that are wonderful--to show the type of society we have." Reprinted with permission. For more informatron about either time capsules OR this page,please contact the folks at Future Pkg&Pres: �itarre�k�;�%rninds�riin�Conr Last updated: 23 Nov 1998 � � http://futurepkg.home.mindspring.com/rivrside.htm 4/7/99