Chamber time capsule offers a glimpse into the past
Phone books, Centennials tickets, a letter from late former Mayor Jack Burrows, a fire fighters’ calendar, Mike Harris coffee and much more.
Those are just a few of the many items included in the North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce time capsule that was sealed 25 years ago.
As instructed on the rocket shaped capsule, it was opened Thursday at North Bay City Hall.
Donna Backer, Chamber CEO, says a couple of her favourite items were the essays written by students about what 2025 would hold for North Bay and the late Wayne Poeta’s police badge.
His daughter Sue has been with the Chamber for 30 years.
“That’s what it’s all about. It’s all about taking time to remember things,” she says. “There’s so much going on right now let’s just put some positivity out there and see what was going on 25 years ago and moving forward.”
With the essays, some of the kids accurately predicted electric vehicles, hybrid learning, one hospital site, the rail lands being a community park and more.
“The fact that some of these things are true is just fascinating to me,” she says. “It just makes us start thinking about talking to kids more about how we want the future of our city to be. They’re going to be here. Let’s talk to our youth a little bit more and ask what they want the city to look like in a few years.”
One of the essays was written by Holly Ballentine, who was in grade three at the time and drove up from Windsor for the time capsule opening.
She says a lot of memories came back to her as she read her essay.
“I was definitely a little kid and apparently I really liked Beanie Babies,” she says with a laugh. “Just memories of Vincent Massey to be honest. I was there from kindergarten all the way through, and it definitely brought a lot of memories from the school in general.”
The chamber will showcase some of the contents of the time capsule at a variety of events so people can see what was inside.
The city will now be repurposing the time capsule to refill it and reseal it.
