x
  1. Home
  2.  News
  3.  Local News

Warwick time capsule is unearthed

| 10 Aug 2017 | 11:53
    The Department of Public Works hoist the five-foot tall capsule to the surface. (Photos by Roger Gavan)
    The Department of Public Works hoist the five-foot tall capsule to the surface. (Photos by Roger Gavan)
    The head of the capsule had to be heated with a torch so that it could be easily opened by hand.
    The head of the capsule had to be heated with a torch so that it could be easily opened by hand.
    Photo by Roger Gavan Mayor Michael Newhard put on a pair of white gloves to begin removing the 50-year-old contents of the time capsule. For more photos, go to warwickadvertiser.com.
    Photo by Roger Gavan Mayor Michael Newhard put on a pair of white gloves to begin removing the 50-year-old contents of the time capsule. For more photos, go to warwickadvertiser.com.
    After the capsule was removed, the contents were spread out on a tablecloth and then brought over to the nearby American Legion Post 214 hall where they were on display for the remainder of the day.
    After the capsule was removed, the contents were spread out on a tablecloth and then brought over to the nearby American Legion Post 214 hall where they were on display for the remainder of the day.
    This Warwick Daily Advertiser was found in the time capsule.
    This Warwick Daily Advertiser was found in the time capsule.

By Roger Gavan
WARWICK — The unearthing of a time capsule was part of a weeklong series of events celebrating the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of the Village of Warwick, which took place in August 1867.
The stone plaque near the entrance to Veterans Memorial Park read, “Time Capsule to be Removed in Year 2017.” As Mayor Michael Newhard said during his opening remarks at the ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 5, “This is the moment we’ve been waiting for 50 years.”
The crowd of over 300 people assembled that morning included Stephen Cross, the mayor of Warwick, England, the county town of Warwickshire, and his wife, Christine, who served as the previous mayor. Newhard remarked that despite the distance between the two communities, they have much in common.
Retired Warwick Police Sgt. George Arnot, a member of the Sesquicentennial Committee, chaired this event, and a Board of Trustees were in charge of opening the time capsule.
After his introduction, Newhard asked members of the Department of Public Works to hoist the five-foot-tall capsule to the surface. Fortunately, as he told the crowd, the capsule had been removed a few days earlier to test its condition before the ceremonial opening.
Much to everyone’s surprise, the time capsule was encased in a block of cement that took four hours to break open, and the head of the capsule had to be heated with a torch so that it could be easily opened by hand.
After the capsule was removed, the contents were spread out on a tablecloth and then brought over to the nearby American Legion Post 214 hall where they were on display for the remainder of the day.
The items included a 1967 edition of The Warwick Daily Advertiser.
This fall, a new capsule, to be unearthed during the Village of Warwick Bicentennial in 2067, will be installed, and a new Board of Trustees for its opening will be appointed.
Anyone who wishes to have a letter included in the time capsule that they would like to be read 50 years from now are encouraged to drop it off at Village Hall. Recordings, CDs and the like are being considered.