The Chelsea District Library (CDL) opened a fifty-year-old time capsule buried on the property on June 26, 2026, to commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary. The capsule had originally been buried in 1976 to celebrate the country’s bicentennial and was filled with envelopes from local residents that included family photos, newspaper clippings and other memorabilia.
Hundreds of people gathered for the opening, which included a picnic and speeches from Bill O’Reilly of the Chelsea Area Historical Society and Wendy Reinhardt of CDL.
“The library has put a ton of work into making this special,” Mayor Kate Henson said of the event. “It wasn’t easy to dig up, and then also finding an appropriate way to honor it, I think, was important to the library, and it looks like they nailed it. It’s just another one of those ways that Chelsea shows up and shows out, because what we have here is really special.”
1976 Celebration
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 attended 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,” CDL Head of Marketing and Outreach Virginia Krueger said.
While the time capsule was sealed, not locked, and the key was ceremonial, Jayma Bollinger still had the honor of opening the lid and reading out the names of the families that had purchased envelopes in 1976.
“It’s a labor of love,” Krueger said. “I just hope the people who were there in ‘76 appreciate what we’re doing.”
Dozens of people who had attended the original burial were in attendance at Friday’s opening, including Dennis Petsch, a Chelsea High School graduate who was selected to give a speech during the burial.
“I don’t remember how we were selected or anything, but they just asked us to do a speech, you know, because we would be here in the future, they presumed, and here I am,” Petsch said. “The whole street was really crowded because it was the beginning of the bicentennial, which was our senior year. It was fun. We had a blast.”
Capsule Contents
During the library’s renovations in the late 2000s, the time capsule was dug up early and moved from its original location so it would be accessible again in 2026. Those involved in the reburial left a surprise for the excavation crew of 2026: a homemade bottle of wine buried halfway to the capsule, along with a note from Scott Otto, a lifelong Chelsea resident who passed away in 2021, addressed to his son.
“I hope they had fun opening this time capsule I put a real good bottle of Paul Seitz home made wine in it hope everyone enjoyed it and had fun opening the 1976 time capsule that was buried under this one,” the note reads.
The capsule also contained a package addressed to the current mayor of the city. Inside was a copy of the city’s zoning ordinance from the ’70s, meeting minutes from the village council and lists of local organizations and clubs that were present in 1976.
“The City Planning Commission, Recreation Council, Huron River Watershed, Washtenaw County Recreation Advisory committee, the Chelsea Area Transportation System,” Henson said. “It’s fantastic to see some of these things were around then, and they’re still going strong today. So, this is fascinating.”
The library photographed and documented the contents of the capsule for preservation.
114 North Main St Suite 10 Chelsea, MI 48118
