Going back in time

Contributed Photo
TWENTY YEARS AGO — In 1992 these sixth-grade students at the Littleton Elementary School selected special items to be buried in a time capsule. Those marking the event were, from left, Jacob McNinch, Casey Shaw, Kasey Botting and Kristina Spellman.
Time capsule unearthed after 20 years
By Karen Donato
Special to the Pioneer Times
    LITTLETON — Twenty years ago 16 sixth-grade students at Littleton Elementary School brought items to school to bury in a time capsule. The project was under the leadership of then Principal Mike Powers. Lucas Wilde and Jacob McNinch made the six-foot wooden box to hold 16 bags filled with special possessions from each student in the class. The capsule was buried in the southwest corner of the former playground and measurements and pictures were kept for future reference.
    It was intended to leave it there undisturbed for 25 years, but due to the building’s current use as the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum, the area where the time capsule was buried was needed for a permanent display area. So it was decided to unearth the capsule early.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Karen Donato
TWENTY YEARS LATER — These former sixth-grade students returned to Littleton this past Saturday to dig up a time capsule they had buried in 1992. From left are Casey Shaw, Kasey Botting Benson, Andrea Carmichael, Damon Henderson, Jacob McNinch and Paul Prosser, former custodian at the school.
    Some preliminary digging had taken place earlier in the week with no success, so on Saturday morning an excavator provided by Bill Dunbar was brought in and more intense digging began at 10:30 a.m.
    Former student, Kasey Botting had tried to locate her former classmates on Facebook to alert them about the event. A few were able to return including Damon Henderson, traveling from Warren. Others who came from the area were Casey Shaw, Sam Wright, Andrea Carmichael, Jacob McNinch and Aldena Armour. They stood watching with much anticipation, but in the end needed lots of patience.
    Although in 1992, the information recorded seemed very exact, after 20 years the landscape looked much different. Gone was the hot top and the playground equipment, many of the landmarks that would have helped pinpoint the exact spot. After more than four hours and with the use of a metal detector the wooden box was finally located.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Karen Donato
LOOK WHAT I FOUND — Andrea Carmichael was all smiles when she found her Popple, a popular stuffed animal in the 1990s.
    Through it all the former students were determined to find the box, even when it looked like it was impossible, as one small area became larger and larger and the piles of dirt became higher.
    Sadly once the box was discovered it was full of water. Once opened, the bags were removed and luckily some items were found to be still intact even though many of them were saturated and had to be discarded.
    It was exciting for the former students attending to rediscover special things that they had forgotten about.
    Casey Shaw said that she had often thought about the items that she had buried and looked forward to getting a look at them again.
    Former custodian, Paul Prosser and several parents were also in attendance for the occasion, however Principal Powers could not make it. Other members of the class are: Paula Price, Kristina Spellman, Phillip Merritt, Josh Westerdahl, Autumn Gentle, Nichole Smith, Darren Mills and Jesse Clark.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Karen Donato
JAKE’S TREASURE — Jacob McNinch recovered his baseball cards and a picture of himself along with several other items in the time capsule which was dug up at the former Littleton School this past weekend. Items had been placed in the time capsule 20 years ago when McNinch was 11 years-old. In the background on the left is Jacob’s dad, Allen holding Jacob’s daughter, Lexi.