Contact:
Kelly Misch
Director of Communications
Chardon Local Schools
440.286.0409
October 27, 2023
Submitted by Jamie Porter
Tutor and Substitute Teacher
Munson Elementary School
As you may be aware, Hambden Elementary is 100 years old this year. In 1998, during our celebration of the school being 75, we buried a time capsule in the front yard. This month, the time capsule digging began!
I was the unofficial 'Hambden Historian" and still have lots of pictures, old report cards, timelines, etc. regarding Hambden School.
[Note: Together with Ms. Porter, Albert ("Bert") Hanson, a retired Hambden Elementary teacher, is also interested in locating the Hambden Elementary time capsule '98 — he remembers burying a Twinkie®! in the capsule!
Mr. Hanson contacted Superintendent Hanlon earlier this month about possibly digging up the capsule, which led to the October dig by the Chardon Schools Maintenance Team...]
Oct. 26
Chardon Schools Business Affairs Supervisor Chris May and Assistant Superintendent of Business Affairs Steve Kofol, along with previous Hambden Elementary principal Dorrie Keough and I were there.
Digging began and our 25-year-old memories were failing us a bit as to exactly where the time capsule is. If the capsule is found (it's there somewhere!), it will be brought out and unopened until we can have a bit of a ceremony.
Oct. 27
Digging resumed and included the efforts of Lead Maintenance Paul Marks.
The time capsule was found this afternoon! But we discovered it had collapsed from being buried and water had entered it. Most of the paper is in bad shape or ruined. A few other things survived but are dirty.
Results Pending
We decided to save everything and let it dry out to see if any of it can be saved. I will check in next week with Chris May to see if I can help lay things out.
So, though finding the capsule was a success (and fun!), unfortunately the future of the items inside is questionable. One item that we were all interested in was retired teacher Mr. Bert Hanson's Twinkie®. It was wet, but looked a lot better than all the other stuff!
Stay tuned!
[Historical Note: In 2018, the Hambden Elementary was closed as a K-5 school building as part of the District's 2018 restructuring. The building operates today — on a much smaller scale — as the District's Business Affairs Department.]