Over two years have passed since the COVID-19 pandemic stopped the world in its tracks. Now, citizens of West Point are looking to leave for its future citizens a reminder of the unprecedented times the world is living through in the form of a time capsule.
Charles Ivy, one of the six committee members who has been organizing the event, said the idea to bury a time capsule in West Point struck him after seeing a time capsule buried in Columbus 50 years ago be unearthed earlier this year.
“It hit me at that moment: We should do something like that here in West Point. So, me and my wife, Tamara, approached the mayor about doing a time capsule for the City of West Point,” Ivy said. “He directed us to the Growth Alliance to talk with them and we formed a committee of six members here in the city, and we came up with an idea of what we wanted to do. I wanted to focus the capsule from 2019 up to the present pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Alongside Charles and Tamara Ivy, committee members include Louise Campbell, Growth Alliance Director Lisa Klutts, Jan Miller and Robert Smith. The committee will be collecting items to place in the time capsule June 13-17 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Growth Alliance where they will be numbered and tagged. The committee will then decide which of those items will be sealed inside the capsule.
The time capsule will be buried above ground in a monument that Columbus Marble Works will erect in West Point. The monument and the time capsule will be dedicated in a ceremony on Aug. 22.
Photos, resolutions, business cards and special mementos are all items that could end up in the time capsule. In addition to those items brought by the public, other items have been specially curated to mark the city’s progress over time.
These include photos of businesses, letters from the current and former mayor, letters from the incoming and outgoing school district superintendent and photos and letters from the police, fire and sheriff’s departments.
Buried also in the time capsule will be COVID-19 death and case numbers provided by West Point Emergency Management Agency and composition books with notes and letters from children across all the schools in West Point.
“Everybody seems like they’re excited about it. Hopefully it will help enlighten and inspire the next generation,” Ivy said. “So we can educate them on some things, and share some positive things that we were doing.”
The West Point Mayor and Board of Selectmen approved placement of the time capsule in the rose garden next to City Hall. In 50 years on August 22, 2072, the time capsule will be opened.
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