By Lisa Loomis
Town Reports confirm, and those present at the time confirm, that in July 1976 a time capsule was buried in Warren Village, behind the current bandstand.
That time capsule (reportedly a two-person gondola was buried) near the newly-constructed bandstand and was to be dug up in 2025, this year. That’s according to the Warren Town Report from 1976.
Warren Village resident Dorothy Tod had been named the town’s historian that year and was asked to provide an annual report for the Town Report. She did and provided pictures of two sections of that report, one detailing the construction of the bandstand (as well as details about a hurricane that wrought havoc on the Mad River watershed plus a report from the late fire chief Norris “Fat” Weston about that year’s fires).
The other picture notes that the 1976 Fourth of July celebration was particularly spectacular with a “first class display of fireworks.”
IN 2025
“We also buried a time capsule in the newly-created town park, to be dug up in 2025.”
Here is where it gets interesting. Warren architect, planner and Fourth of July celebrant Jim Sanford was involved in the creation and burying of the time capsule and he clearly remembers it was to be dug up in 50 years – not 49 – as the Town Report would indicate.
Sanford said it was buried as part of the 1976 Bicentennial Celebration and reported that the annual Prickly Mountain float was a bald eagle and the time capsule was its egg in the form of a gondola donated by Sugarbush.
He said that organizers at the time intended for it to be dug up in 50 years which would be next year.
SKI BOOTS
“We were worried about water getting into the capsule, so we painted it with foundation coating and put plywood over the window opening,” he said.
Sanford doesn’t recall exactly what his contribution to the capsule was. He said it might have been a $2 bill that he put in a mason jar and sealed with the lid and duct tape to avoid water infiltration. Other items he recalled going into it were some ski boots.
The decision on when to dig on town property, regardless of whether it is this year or next year is up to the Warren Select Board. Board chair Devin Klein Corrigan said that the board had discussed it – thinking it would be dug up next year. But that was before seeing the 1976 Town Report which indicates a 2025 unveiling.
ON THE AGENDA
“I think we’ll need to revisit this again. We’ll put it back on the agenda,” she said.
Tod, for her part, is ready to help narrow down the field for the digging. A filmmaker, and former town historian, she is also a dowser and this week she re-visited the site and reports it is favorable for dowsing. For those who don’t know, dowsing is not just for water and can be used to find lost objects, buried objects and more.
