WESTLOCK – Recently we told you very briefly of a metal box buried 25 years ago by the 32 campers and staff of the Junior High Challenge camp of 1998 at Camp Mackinicholea on Long Island Lake that was dug up May 20.
As we noted, digging the box up, which was buried about three feet down a couple of feet from the flagpole in front of the craft hole (former Dapp United Church building) was the easy part. Opening the eighth-of-an-inch welded metal container was the hard part. Luckily, one of the men present had an angle grinder, and while the gathered crowd waited patiently, the box was finally cut open to reveal the contents.
Obviously, the box was well constructed and sealed, as the contents inside were nice and dry, and wrapped in a plastic bag. A sealed letter inside the bag suggested “open me first.” Inside was a letter from the camp director, Craig Brooks, explaining a bit about what they had done, and their camp theme “A Step in Time,” which led to the idea of the time capsule, buried with instructions left that it should be opened in 25 years. The camp was held July 2-10, 1998, and the young teenaged campers had ample time to come up with some ideas for the box.
Brooks had expressed his desire to become a teacher, and through the instructions, were able to contact him, who is now indeed a teacher in southern Alberta.
A couple of the other campers known by this writer were contacted, but neither had much recollection of the time capsule. Camp assistant director Erin Harder however, did.
“I thought it was a great idea at the time, until we had to dig the hole,” she said.
She said she had contacted her father, Blaine Harder, who worked at Wabash Welding in Westlock to build the metal time capsule. He recalled having done that metal box, along with a couple others. The biggest challenge was to weld the lid solid so that it wouldn’t leak, and at the same time, hoping not to damage the contents inside.
Inside the box, along with the letter and list of campers, were a number of items from the day. That included a copy of both the Edmonton Journal and Edmonton Sun, a portion of the Barrhead Leader with a photo of one of the campers circled, as well as an Archie comic book and a magazine of the day. Also included were a fluffy doll, large model representing a Camp Mack mosquito, and a floppy disc — it hasn’t been determined yet if there is anything on it, as finding a computer to check it out with has long been outdated.
Each cabin group had also written what is either a poem or song, a map of the camp layout at the time, plus a few other little odds and ends.
Society president Candise Lazowski said they are considering putting together a time capsule of today to refill the box and seal it up and bury it to be opened again in 25 years, which would be 2048.
