50 years later, contents of a bicentennial time capsule are revealed at Elgin High School

With her hands clasped and awash in a wave of anticipation, Gale Pentz-Miller stood and watched as sparks flew from an angle grinder Friday at Elgin High School, cutting the lock off a time capsule that had waited 50 years to be opened.

The bicentennial time capsule was filled by students at Elgin High in 1976 with specific instructions that it be opened in 2026 for America’s semiquincentennial.

Pentz-Miller was part of a bicentennial committee at the school in 1976, but she belonged to the class of 1977. Though she remembered that her name was engraved inside the box and knew she had put photos inside, she didn’t know what else they’d find.

“I’ve been telling my husband about this box for 48 years,” she said. “I have no clue what’s in there, and I’m dying to find out.”

The time capsule — a wooden box made by students in the school’s shop — bounced around a bit over the past 50 years. It initially was stored in a bank vault in downtown Elgin. But when that bank branch closed, it ended up in an employee’s garage for a time.

The bank employee eventually contacted someone at Elgin High School, where it got tucked in the back of a walk-in safe, largely forgotten until Principal Avelira Rodríguez González was told about it by a secretary this year.

González said “the stars aligned” when Miller happened to call her around that same time, saying “there might be a capsule somewhere in the school that needs to be opened up.”

With the dots connected, a couple of dozen people showed up at the school Friday to see what was in the box. The final hurdle? The key had gone missing from a yellowed envelope taped to the box with instructions on how and when to open it.

That problem was solved with an angle grinder, and González and Miller sorted through all the items, pulling out a lot of what you might expect, including dozens of photographs, old school and community newspapers and school programs centered on America’s 200th birthday.

Among the myriad other keepsakes were a daily bulletin of school activities, a yearbook, and a copy of a dress code that most in attendance agreed was never enforced. A Time magazine cover asked the question “Who is Jimmy Carter,” while a roughly two-inch thick Sears catalog highlighted the latest in corduroy fashions. A handmade box contained a pet rock, along with instructions for its care.

Several members of the class of ’76 in attendance came up to the table where all the items had been spread out, allowing people to thumb through the memories.

Lee Lasseigne, class of 1976, was flipping through a sports program when he saw a name he didn’t recognize.

“I dated most of the cheerleaders, but it looks like I must have missed one,” he said, chuckling.

Sheri (Gertz) Wadsworth said she enjoyed seeing all the old sports programs from her time at EHS.

“I loved going to every football game and every basketball game back then,” she said. “Go Maroons!”

Class of 1976 alumnus Lee Swanson, who also taught at EHS, checked out newspapers and other curios looking for old teammates and friends from his basketball playing days.

He admitted he was hoping for a little more from the time capsule.

“It’s a little disappointing in the sense that they played it kind of straight,” Swanson said. “High school was a fun time.”