Time Capsule

BY ELAYNE MCCOLLUM

Iwas on the Canadian Lakes Association Board and joined the planning committee to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Canadian Lakes. The celebration was to take place in July 2013. I suggested to the committee that a time capsule would be a great way to give future generations a snapshot of what life here was like.

Our community was busy that year with a flurry of events and activities for all to enjoy such as the airplane fly in, 4th of July picnic, and golf events, to name a few.

I continued to pursue obtaining content for the time capsule and contacted Gary Berg who was a woodworker and asked him if he would be interested in creating the time capsule box. He made it with wood from our Amish neighbors. It also has a Maple leaf hanging on the outside of the box.

I amassed a list of what should be in the box and collected items and interviewed various members of our community to capture life in Canadian Lakes. I spoke with Jim Small, Ray Herbert and Billy Hoeft (all former Detroit Tigers) who graciously autographed a baseball that resides in the time capsule.

As best as I can recall there was also: a banner that hung from our streetlights; a commemorative shirt; brochures from the various real estate offices, the IGA grocery store (later Hixson’s) and a newspaper from July 2013. I also wrote up a short bio of myself and why I love living in Canadian Lakes.

I do recall a photo of Greg Babbitt closing and locking the time capsule, but it is nowhere to be found. I have been asked several times to open the capsule and include some more current information and items, but I have explained that it is not appropriate because once it was closed and locked, it would not be re-opened until July 2063 during the 100th celebration of Canadian Lakes.

The time capsule resides in the CLPOC Office and on your next visit I hope you will check it out!