Fort River Elementary Community Celebrates Unearthing of Time Capsule
First of two time capsules unearthed. Photo: Sandy Prince McKeown,
An estimated 50 to 70 people gathered at the Fort River Elementary School on June 1, 2025 for the unearthing of the Fort River Time Capsule. The capsule, consisting of two military munitions boxes, had been assembled and buried in 1994 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Fort River School. The boxes hold items that every class—from kindergarten to sixth grade—contributed, reflecting something about the 1970s (the school first opened in 1974) or looking forward to imagine what the school, town and students would be like.
Those attending the event included past teachers and students and their parents and current Fort River students and teachers and parents, as well as retired landscape designer Steve Prothers, who had donated the large rock that covered the time capsules and a weeping cherry tree (sadly, no longer there), attended the event.
Writer and composer Joel Knopf’s original song, “Time Capsule,” set the upbeat and nostalgic mood. Gigi Barnhill from the Amherst Historical Society offered a fascinating history of time capsules. Former principal Russ Vernon-Jones offered his emotional memory of the 1994 time capsule program, and then parent and singer-songwriter Paul Kaplan led the group in a singalong of Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle.”
Afterwards, Kaplan invited students past and present to pick up a shovel, dig out a few loads of earth, and pass it on to others. The suspense and excitement peaked when they reached the two blue metal boxes and wiggled them loose. Then Jeanne Horrigan and Jayne Pearl removed each ziplock bag and announced the contents. Sadly a few items were beyond recognition. The contents were then spread on two long tables, Peter Lambdin led the assembled in the final song, Joni Mitchell’s “Circle Game.”
The Fort River Time Capsule committee (including Kaplan, Pearl, Horrigan, Vernon-Jones, as well as former teachers Irene Eigner, Rick Last, Roger Wallace and Lamdin) plans to clean up contents that are sufficiently preserved, digitize them, and upload them to the group’s Facebook page over the next few weeks.
