Town of Newfane finds surprises in the opening of nearly 50 year old time capsule

May 22—NEWFANE — Town officials and residents were met with some surprises when they unearthed a nearly 50-year-old time capsule on Sunday.

A crowd of about 60 curious residents gathered at the site of the Newfane Historical Society's Apple Blossom Festival to witness town officials open the time capsule that dated back to the 1970s, according to town historian Bill Clark.

In the town's bicentennial year, "people came in from out of state just to see the time capsule opening," Clark said.

The time capsule, a large metallic cylinder, was placed in a crypt at the site of the former town hall at the intersection of McKee Street and Transit Road, which currently houses the town courts and highway department. It was delivered by horse and carriage from its burial site to the Apple Blossom Festival grounds.

Clark said it was initially believed that the time capsule was buried in 1974 to coincide with the town's sesquicentennial. However, upon its opening Sunday, they were surprised to find items such as Union-Sun & Journal newspapers and yearbooks that were dated 1976.

"Someone recalled that during the celebrations in 1974 that the idea didn't come up until later in their planning, so we think the time capsule was formally put together when the town historical society was formed in 1976. They still did intend to open it for the (town's) bicentennial year," Clark said.

Among the other items found in the time capsule were old records from the Town of Newfane, papers signed with the names of students at Newfane Elementary School and letters from town residents to their loved ones to read in the "future."

"The most impressive feature was a lot of letters that the families put in there saying things such as, 'Give this to my children or my grandchildren 50 years from now,'" Clark said.

Unfortunately, there weren't any items dating back to the 1800s, like Clark had initially suspected.

"That might've been wishful thinking on my part. I was hoping to see things from the Pioneer Days," he said.

Kathy O'Keefe, owner of the Windsor Village Shoppes in Lockport, was on hand to witness the unearthing of the time capsule that was buried when she was a 12-year-old growing up in Newfane.

O'Keefe's father, Larry, constructed the time capsule while he was working at the General Motors plant in Lockport, so O'Keefe was surprised to find that no items from her family were inside the time capsule itself.

"There was a lot of cool things in there, but believe it or not (my family) didn't put anything in there," she said.

She also made note of a headline in a 1974 edition of the US&J found in the capsule that read "Lockport council picks Falls ambulance firm." The article referenced a city council vote to enter into negotiations with Niagara Falls-based Frontier Ambulance Service "after pleas from other ambulance operators to reopen bids on ambulance service."

"In 1974, the City of Lockport was still wrestling with ambulance service...That's still the headline today," O'Keefe observed.

Some of the time capsule's contents will be put on display at the town hall and Van Horn Mansion, while the town historical society will aim to return several letters to the families of their authors.

Clark said the historical society will be soliciting new items to be placed into the same time capsule, which they plan to reseal and bury during the annual Apple Harvest Festival in September.