Time capsule reception pushed to Jan. 26

The Greenwood Lake Centennial Time Capsule Reception to view the items going into the time capsule, originally planned for December 29, 2024, has been rescheduled for January 26, 2025, to be held at 12 p.m. at The Greenwood Lake Public Library, providing residents more time to submit content and become part of history.

When the current time capsule was opened on Sunday, August 18, 2024, the ingredients had been thoughtfully buried 50 years ago together with the expectation that during Greenwood Lake’s Centennial it would be unearthed to reveal what was important to the Village residents at the time for future friends and relatives to discover.

The contents had been carefully wrapped in paper bags then covered with a layer or two of aluminum foil before being gathered into smaller groups and then placed into larger plastic bags which would protect the contents, they thought, from the damage that moisture could impart. They even had marked the burial spot, near the old firehouse on Waterstone Road (now the community center) and planned for the future excavation in 2024. But burial in a concrete vault was later found to be susceptible to leakage and water damage, which onlookers this day soon learned. Cassettes, video reels, and other items were ruined by water and mud.

For the dedication of next month’s new 50-year time capsule to be opened in the future when the Village turns 150, different preparations have been underway, however. To avoid similar damage this time around, the committee is planning to seal the new capsule, a special filing cabinet, and store it in the basement of the Village library until it is opened in 2074.

As late as October this year committee members had planned to enclose the usual items that might go into a time capsule such as newspaper clippings, utility bills, and photographs, but in November the Jennings Creek fire erupted and all bets were off. “Since we had this giant forest fire, I figured that would be something that we’d like to be included. It was a pretty incredible experience,” revealed local business owner Warren Congdon. Many residents now would like for the capsule to include items that show people in the future how hard firefighters from hundreds of companies throughout New York and nearby states, and trained professionals from as far away as Montana and Colorado, worked to keep the November wildfire from destroying homes east of the lake.

Centennial committee Co-Chair Nancy Clifford said there will be a special package of items in the capsule to tell the story of the wildfire, but there were several other notable events future residents should know about. “We’ve obviously added things that happened in the Village,” reported Clifford. “We’ve had microbursts that destroyed buildings, an earthquake, resignations of elected officials; 2024 has been some year.”

The committee is accepting submissions for the time capsule until mid-January, and it will be sealed at a ceremony on January 26, 2025. The Greenwood Lake Centennial Committee had been planning this and other events for over 18 months. To view more about the Centennial events that have occurred throughout the year, visit GWLCentennial.org.