Time Capsule Ceremony Sees Rain Again

History repeated itself on Saturday, June 4, during the Clay County Bicentennial Celebration on the Old Courthouse Square in Liberty. Fifty years ago when the sesquicentennial time capsule was to be interred, the weather also played a role in the celebration.

Historic Downtown Liberty, Inc hosted the family-friendly Bicentennial Celebration in conjunction with the Clay County Bicentennial Commission. The event included a Build a Time Capsule booth, StoneLion Puppet Theater, face painting, frozen treats, live music, and a ceremony to unveil the 1972 time capsule contents.

Ironically, the weather was part of the 2022 ceremony just as it was for the 1972 ceremony. Tony Meyers, President of the Clay County Archives shared the story of the 1972 time capsule ceremony.

“If you look at the stone, the date that was originally intended of the burial was June 17th. Well that didn’t happen on June 17th because of rain,” explained Meyers as rain drops began to fall around him. “Torrential rain apparently, which went on for days and days; so much so that it delayed the burial by more than two months.” The actual burial of the time capsule was August 18, 1972.

Weather not only played a role in the time capsule ceremonies of 1972 and 2022, but also in the storage of the capsule in the vault. The contents of the capsule were placed in a stainless steel milk can that was coated with tar to keep water out of the milk can. The capsule was then placed in a cement vault and marked with a stone on the west side of the Old Courthouse.

However when workers opened up the vault in May, they found it was full of water and tar. When they found the milk can, they saw that the tar had not hardened over time.

When Tony and Scott Cole opened the capsule, they found that water and tar had seeped into the milk can, ruining many of the contents. A few coins, notes, pictures and a banner were able to be salvaged from the 1972 capsule. Other items in the capsule included pictures, a DAR Sesquicentennial book, an item from the Heritage Restaurant in Kearney, some newspaper clippings and other papers.

The Clay County Bicentennial Commission will be collecting items for a 2022 time capsule to be placed in storage this fall. More information on desired items and collection locations will be announced on the Commission’s web page.

KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story