Warren - A sparkler, a joint, an empty package of birth control pills, a soft-plastic Jane Mansfield water bottle, a landline phone, a phone book, a garter-belt, and a few more treasures were found in the fifty-year-old time capsule that was excavated near the gazebo in Warren village this week.
The May 19 dig, held under a blooming apple tree, attracted a steady crowd of onlookers, ranging from preschools to those who were on hand the day the capsule (a repurposed Sugarbush gondola) was part of the 1976 Warren Fourth of July parade Prickly Mountain float.
GONDOLA ROOF
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, which included multiple media organizations as well as fifth and sixth-grade anthropologists and citizen journalists, an excavator operated by Jeff Parent (whose business, Parent Construction is working on Warren’s sidewalks) rolled onto the site, with Warren road crew members and firefighters on hand. Parent’s excavator is smaller than the town’s, and he volunteered his time and the use of his equipment to the town.
It's always fun to watch a skilled heavy-equipment operator at work and Parent is skilled. He carefully extracted soil while road crew members scraped with shovels until the first bit of the red of the gondola roof was visible. There were “oohs and ahhs” when water gushed into the hole, and then the first few items were retrieved.
An attempt was made to lift the gondola out of the hole with a chain on the excavator, but organizers determined that more excavation was needed, and more water needed to be pumped out of the hole.
NARRATED
While that happened, long-time Warren Village resident Carl Lobel continued his work as MC of the event for Mad River Valley Television’s live stream of the event. Lobel narrated the process and conducted impromptu man-on-the-street interviews with those who buried the capsule, those who had opinions about the process, town officials, and anyone else who was willing to be interviewed.
Members of the town road crew alternated with Parent in clearing away the dirt and muck while those present passed around and reviewed the found treasures which were laid out on a blue tarp and laughed over.
LIFT GONDOLA
A second attempt was made to lift the gondola out of its watery resting place which resulted in the top-third breaking loose and yielded even more treasures, which were tossed up and out of the hole.
Shannon Dunfey-Konvicka, Warren Historical Society vice-president and organizer of this week’s dig, said the artifacts and pieces of the gondola were taken to the fire station where they’ll be cleaned and dried out and catalogued with the help of the Warren Elementary School student anthropologists. She praised all those involved in making the event a success including select board chair Devin Klein Corrigan, town administrator Rebecca Campbell, the fire department, the road crew, Lobel and Parent.
NEW CAPSULE
The artifacts and gondola are expected to be on display at the Blair Barn by the Fourth of July and work to bury a new time-capsule this September is underway. Stay tuned for those details.
Dunfey Konvicka said the fact that the gondola was buried in 1976, the nation’s 200th birthday, and opened in 2026, the 250th birthday, with a new capsule to be buried until 2076, the nation’s 300th birthday, was poignant and significant.
“It’s history repeating itself, and what it began with folks, who are still here with us, having put something together, for the future. We want to take that, honor that, and create our new time capsule for the future,” she said.
