Members from the Rotary Club in the City of Orange and representatives for Lamar State College Orange (LSCO) gathered at the Brown Estate Saturday morning. The two groups as well as other people that were just curious observed the opening of two time capsules buried on the property 25 years ago.
The two thick heavy metal containers were about two feet underground and covered by an engraved granite plaque dating when they were buried and that the capsules would be opened on June 1, 2019. Current Lamar State College Orange President Dr. Tom Johnson and longtime Rotarian Mike White opened the first vault for the Rotary Club. Dr. Johnson was assisted by several LSCO faculty and staff in opening the contents of the second time capsule.
Both capsules contained a treasure trove of nostalgic, humorous, and technologically dated items. There were at least two VHS cassette tapes, a floppy disc, a bottle of wine which had leaked, and an audio cassette tape of a song recorded on KOGT.
Several pages were included in the Rotary capsule with the signatures of Rotarian members in 1995. A postcard was found in the Lamar State College Orange vault depicting the campus as of 1995 which predated the Ron E. Lewis Library, the Nursing Education Building, and the Shahan Events Center.
The current president of the Orange Rotary Club Natasha Garrett was only in high school when the capsules were buried and is excited to see familiar names from her recent years in Rotary. “It’s really exciting to see where we were then, where we are now, and where we’re going,” Garrett said.
Dr. Johnson called the collection of items from 25 years ago as magnificent reflecting different technologies and a myriad of memories. The possibility of another time capsule being buried is a possibility according to Johnson. “I think there would be nothing better than for someone 25 years from now to open it up and get the same joy that we’re getting today,” Johnson concluded.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
Social Media