Vault preserves present

September 18, 1997

By RICHARD F. BELISLE

Staff Writer, Waynesboro

WAYNSEBORO, Pa. - Fifty years from now, Waynesboro residents will haul a small burial vault out of the borough hall, open it and find images of late 20th-century pop culture, a touch of local history and a look at what folks today think their world will be like.

"I hope we're all here to open it in 2047," said Glennda Lowson, a member of the board of the Exchange Club of Waynesboro.

The capsule was filled and sealed Wednesday in honor of the town's 200th anniversary celebration now going on. It will be kept in the borough hall.

A third-grade class from Fairview Elementary School, many of whom should be around in 50 years old when the capsule is opened, dropped in a letter they compiled of interviews with their grandparents and other oldsters about their recollections of Waynesboro in earlier times.

Other student letters predicted everyone will be rich in 2047 and will have their own bathrooms. School kids will be able to stay home and get their lessons on lap top computers and by E-mail. Cures will have been found for AIDS and cancer.

Commemorative pins were dropped in from some of the area's largest industries, including Grove Worldwide, Teledyne Landis and the Frick Co. Two books on local history were added to the collection.

A Barbie doll and a Care Bear also went in, as did a pen from the Big Dipper, a popular restaurant that closed some time ago.

"Nobody will know what the Big Dipper was when they open this," Lowson said.

The final item before the capsule was closed was a proclamation on Waynesboro and its 200th birthday signed by Mayor Louis Barlup.

|

|

|