Sussex County History Today: Vernon Time Capsule

I hope you enjoyed our several month in-depth look into the Revolutionary War and our local citizens who participated and helped to bring the United States into the world. It has been a celebration of our 250th year since the Declaration of Independence—one of the most momentous and influential events in world history.

Today, we look at the Vernon schools Time Capsule.

During the last Jubilee of the birth of our nation, back in 1976, there was then also a great thoughtfulness to the occasion. Time capsules were buried. But, time passes and people forget. As in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem on Paul Revere, “hardly a man is now alive who remembers that famous date and year...” and so it is today.

Back on June 14, 1976, the Vernon fifth graders buried a time capsule at the Lounsberry School. It is through mere gossamer thread that the re-discovery and celebration happened this year. Those fifth graders were around 10 or 11 years old, and thus today are around 60 years old. Most have forgotten that event so long ago.

Not Martha Storms. She was the teacher of that class in Vernon.

Now, the thin thread is that she was going through old photos and keepsakes and saw the relevant photos. Another linking of the thin thread is that her son — Dan Storms — was my childhood buddy back in the 1960 when we went fishing, played baseball, and rode our bikes around the streets of Franklin. Thus, we had a connection.

And, as a history buff, I was eager to do something about it. The thin thread continues with it being timely (beginning of June and end of the school year) that I reached out to Vernon schools and luckily connected to an also eager school principal who did the work to get a new event going—Marc Citro.

The rest, we might say, is history!

The kids (now, this year’s youngsters) helped to dig up the time capsule—near the flagpole as envisioned—and looked at the contents. They also put their own age items in.

I had the fortune to be able to participate in their re-burying of the time capsule.

Vernon Historical Society is also an important component in maintaining the continuity, of working to record the legacy of the town and its past, of showing precious artifacts, and of keeping history alive. Support the Vernon Historical Society.

Below are a few words from Mrs. Martha Storms — the developer way back then and the inspiration for the event this year.

Hi Bill,Thought you might like to hear about a time capsule that my 5th grade social studies class buried on June 14th, 1976 , to celebrate our country’s Bicentennial. The capsule is buried a few feet to the right of the flagpole (as you’re facing the school) in front of The Lounsberry Hollow School on Sammis Road in Vernon. It is encased in a stainless-steel cylinder with a domed top and bottom. The air was pumped out and was replaced with an inert gas, Argon. The steel, argon, and labor were donated by my husband’s company, at the time, The Brunswick Corporation. The capsule is to be opened in 2076, our country’s Tricentennial (or Tercentennial). Some of the contents are Bicentennial stamps, coins, flags, and a Hallmark ornament. Also included are items such as a letter from the president, names of all the students in the school, pictures of the class that made the capsule, some seeds, a TV Guide, a WIN button (whip inflation now), a plaster hoof print of a deer, photos from around Vernon and various other such items. My classes had an outdoor program on the day they buried the capsule. The Vernon Township Militia was present, in costume, at that time. Once opened, it was the students’ wish that the contents of the capsule be donated to the Vernon Township Historical Society.