By Gracie Fairfax | Echo
Buried beneath eight inches of concrete in front of Helena Memorial Hall lies a nostalgic treasure-a place where time stands still.
About 25 years ago, 100 members of the Taylor class of 1988 buried mementos of their college years. This Saturday, Oct. 12, during homecoming weekend, the capsule will be unearthed for the first time since its original burial.
The event will take place at 4:45 PM in front of Helena Memorial Hall. Present at the unveiling will be members of the class of 1988. However, they welcome all members of the Taylor community to join them for this unique event in the life of the university. The brief ceremony will include a welcome and a prayer followed by the moment of truth when the capsule will be unearthed.
"(We) wouldn't miss the unearthing of the time capsule for all the tea in China," said Jay and Janie Kesler, Taylor president and first lady emeritus.
The 4' x 4' x 4' concrete vault has a solid steel lid and contains the items sealed in a waterproof bag.
In the fall of his senior year at Taylor, class president Jamey Schmitz (`88) began thinking of an idea for a class gift, inspired by the class gifts of the classes of '31 and '38."The class of '31 literally laid the floor of the gymnasium and the guys in the class of '38 laid a sidewalk for Morris Hall while the girls served lemonade," Schmitz said in an Echo article published in 1988.
He, too, wanted his class to leave a legacy.
He noticed that there were not very many benches on campus for students and small classes to sit and have conversations. This observation led to the proposal for a circle of benches facing each other that would be called Circle Park, which rests outside of Helena Memorial Hall, next to the President's and Admissions offices.His fellow class officers liked his idea, but they lacked funding. The project would cost $2000. So they raised money for their senior gift through a senior dinner and movie called "Evening of Elegance."
"Think high school prom but with no dancing and a movie instead. . . We decorated the Hodson Dining Commons much like you would imagine a high school prom would be decorated, everyone dressed up to the hilt, and after dinner we watched Walt Disney's Cinderella in the Rediger Auditorium," Schmitz said.
However, this only raised half of the money needed to fund Circle Park.
"After praying about how to raise the other $1,000 we needed, a few days later I came up with the idea of selling off space in a time capsule that would be buried underneath the round concrete slab that Circle Park '88, the name we gave to our class project, would be built upon," Schmitz said.
The members of the class of '88 gave gifts of $5 or more towards the class gift and were allowed to place one item into the time capsule in return.
The capsule contains letters, photos, newspaper clipping, books, cassette tapes, VHS tapes, trinkets of all types. President Emeritus Jay L. Kesler placed his own memorabilia, a Bible, inside the capsule, according to Schmitz.In a few weeks, select items from the time capsule will be put on display in the Taylor Archives for all to see.
In 1988, the idea was that the time capsule would be opened at the class of '88's reunions (25th, 50th, 60th, 70th) during Taylor Homecoming, according to Kesler.
While the original intent of the time capsule was to raise money for the class gift, it now serves as an incentive for the class of '88 to return for their milestone reunions. Each time the capsule is dug up, they take out the items that are in the capsule and will have an opportunity to place something back into the time capsule until it is time to reopen it at the next milestone reunion.
President Eugene Habecker of Taylor University recently approved a change to the future purpose of the time capsule. Instead of the class of 1988 exclusively putting items back into the time capsule until their 50th reunion, the class of 1988 is inviting anyone in the Taylor constituency to place items into the time capsule until it is reopened. This includes current students, alumni, faculty, administration, staff and any resident of the Upland community.
Anyone who wants to contribute has until Homecoming Weekend 2014 to submit his or her items to the Office of Alumni Relations. In one year, during Homecoming Weekend 2014, the capsule will be reburied.
This idea, presented by the class of 1988, now serves as a symbol that brings generations of past, present and future Taylor students together for a common purpose-to remember.
