A quarter-century of memories was unearthed Friday as Prince George residents gathered to see what they or their neighbours thought worth preserving in the city's 75th anniversary time capsule.
A standing-room-only crowd filled the second floor of the Bob Harkins branch of the Prince George Public Library in the late afternoon to watch as items buried behind the Welcome to Prince George sign since 1991 were brought into the light.
The first item lifted from the box by 100th anniversary committee member Doug Hofstede? A baseball cap commemorating the 1990 Sons of Norway convention held in the city.
A parade of late 1980s/early 1990s memorabilia followed, ranging from the ridiculous - such as a schedule for the delivery of toilets for the Prince George-hosted 1990 B.C. Summer Games - to the rosy - such as handwritten letters preserved for now-adult children.
Sandra and Flemming Einfeldt had one of the latter, getting another peek at notes they wrote for sons Anthony and Gregory, who were four years old and six months old, respectively, in 1990.
"We thought it would be fun for the boys," said Sandra as she paged through the letters and showed off the family photo shot Dec. 24, 1990.
"I think (the time capsule) is just wonderful. It's nostalgic, it's fun. I think it's terrific."
On one of the pages, Sandra had noted down Anthony's proclamation that he would be a police officer when he was older.
One of the letters also served to remind his parents that he "definitely will not have moved" from Prince George.
Anthony is now a biologist finishing a PhD in Fredericton, N.B.
Unfortunately, the mysteries of the time capsule remain a secret for one family.
By the time the last item was hauled out, the Holzworths hadn't heard their name called.
After 25 years of remembering their mother Helen telling them to "wait and see" what she had left in the time capsule, as of Friday afternoon, there didn't seem to be anything forthcoming for siblings Tim and Tracy, who were joined at the library by their niece.
Helen died about five years ago, after a 19-year stretch with ALS.
Tracy said she was disappointed to not have that last piece of her mother that she was hoping was inside. "It's a risk. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose," she said.
But the family has a homemade book filled with at least a century's worth of family history as well as seeds ready to go for the next time capsule.
"The citizens of the future, the next 100 years, are not going to be disappointed by what's in here," she said. "For what everyone was going through in here with the silence and the anticipation of what's coming out of the vault, they're going to love this (book)."
Some of the items pulled out of the metal box will be on display at the library for a week before returning to its resting place where it will be sealed off until 2065 (when the 75th anniversary capsule is 75 years old). It will be joined by a new 100th anniversary capsule, which will be opened in 2115 to mark Prince George's 200th year.
