Chelsea Library to Unearth 50-Year-Old Time Capsule

Chelsea residents celebrate America’s bicentennial in 1976. Photo courtesy of CDL Vern Otto Historic Photo Collection

The Chelsea District Library (CDL) will host a community lawn party on June 26 for the unearthing of a 50-year-old time capsule that was buried in celebration of America’s bicentennial. The capsule reportedly contains letters from area families, along with items for their descendants, according to CDL Head of Marketing and Outreach Virginia Krueger.

“Families [in 1976] were able to purchase an envelope, and so we will then do the due diligence of trying to connect the families who are still in Chelsea with their envelopes, all the while recording it so that is the opening of the time capsule can continue to be part of the part of its history that’s archived and accessible for decades to come,” she said.

In 1976, the first Chelsea baby born after the burial was selected as the keeper of the key to the time capsule. Jayma Bollinger, née Spears, born Aug. 24 of that year, was chosen, and will attend the festivities this year.

“It’s very serendipitous, because she was born to the Spears family, but she ended up marrying Donnie Bollinger, who runs the local excavating company, and will be very helpful in digging up a time capsule,” Krueger said.

While a specific list of items was not recorded with the burial, local newspapers from the time have alluded to what might be expected when the capsule is opened.

“Samples of data which many area families have already committed to the capsule for receipt by their future generations are family records, newspapers, newspaper ads, souvenirs, voice tapes, and letters,” The Chelsea Standard wrote in the Sept. 16, 1976, edition.

The bicentennial committee of Chelsea left minimal instructions for opening in a short letter that listed the location and dimensions of the capsule. The capsule has been moved once in the fifty years since its burial due to construction at the library, and is located in the lawn on Main St., where the festivities will take place this year.

“We’re going to host an All-American picnic on the library lawn. There will be food trucks, there will be live music,” Krueger said. “We’re going to bring in like a 70s-themed band, sort of lean into that 1976 celebration.”

The event is set to take place on June 26 from 5-7 p.m. and is free to the public. Residents present at the original burial are encouraged to reach out and share their stories with the library at [email protected].