This is a cool story. School board member Sue Woltanski called me about it Monday evening.
“For years, an envelope has hung on the bulletin board outside the school superintendent’s office,” Woltanski said. “Typed on the front are instructions to open the envelope on April 6, 2026.”
The envelope, yellowed with age, is dated April 6, 1976, the year of the nation’s bicentennial, when schools all over the country sealed containers with items they thought would reflect the era.
“Open this envelope on April 6, 2026 to find directions for unearthing the time capsule buried on April 6, 1976. Please keep this in a vault or other secure place until said date. Students of Project G.O., May Sands School.”
OK, so they didn’t follow the instructions exactly. At least the envelope was saved. As an insurance policy, the students sent identical notes to the county library, the then-mayor and the then-principal of May Sands School.
“I believe the school district has been over at the school with a metal detector or ground-penetrating radar or something, and they do think there’s something there, in a spot they sort of expect it to have been buried,” Woltanski said, joking that she “keeps thinking about Al Capone’s vault.”
In April 1986, TV personality Geraldo Rivera hosted a live, two-hour TV special titled, “The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults.” Broadcast from the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, the highly hyped, record-breaking special ultimately revealed only dirt and empty bottles, according to CBS News.
School district officials and students will unearth and open the time capsule at 1 p.m. on Monday, April 6, exactly 50 years from the day it was sealed.
“I have to assume there are still some people in town who were students at May Sands in 1976,” Woltanski said. “I’d love for them to hear about this and attend the opening.”
What items did the students choose in 1976 to summarize their era for students 50 years in the future? Find out on Monday, April 6 at 1 p.m. at May Sands School on United Street.
