The crowd in the library of the Elmvale District High School was buzzing with excitement and anticipation awaiting the big reveal.
A time capsule, found hidden in a wall, was opened Wednesday by Principal Dan MacDonald and Simcoe County District School Board Chair Peter Beacock, himself a former student.
Contractors working on a new addition and renovation recently discovered the time capsule while removing an interior wall of the school building. The mysterious copper box was located behind a stone dated 1965.
"It was a surprise for the construction workers. They came right in with it and were all excited. I think they were thinking I might open it up right away but decided to wait," said MacDonald.
"It's a tight knit community. Many, many generations are here so lots of people that are actually at the school now will have had grandparents and parents who were in the school when this date stone was placed."
Beacock and MacDonald carefully removed and displayed the items inside the box and placed them on a table so everyone could have a close look and examine the contents for themselves.
The time capsule contained two envelopes from 1965 and 1983 with items including a yearbook from the 1980's, an invitation to the official opening of a new wing in 1966 and handwritten lists of names of staff and students.
Gloria Woods came to witness the opening with her brother, another former student. Woods would've been in grade 9 when the time capsule was installed but she doesn't remember it even though her name appears on one of the lists.
"My name was mentioned there but it was Jacobs then. For me, it's a nice memory. For these kids, it's probably like really? Most of the stuff is typed on a typewriter. These kids probably don't know what a typewriter looks like."
Her son attended the school and his children are also expected to also go there.
Student Ayden Lewis,15, was caught up in the nostalgia. Lewis was in the student band that helped set the mood by playing 'Help' by the Beatles, an iconic song that was topping the charts in 1965, the year on the date stone.
"I'm new around this area but it's nice to see these memories come back and see the people who were around here come back and recognize the stuff," said Lewis.
School Board Chair Beacock attended Elmvale in the 70's.
"To be able to open it up and see the things that were inside was really, really cool," said Beacock. "There's a lot of history there and a small community like this, these young students will be able to read one of those lists and their grandparents' names will probably be on it somewhere."
The school will put the packages back together and place them back in the time capsule.
Students will add a new envelope for the new addition and new date stone.
