Crookston residents gathered in the Three Steeple Courtyard on North Ash Street on Saturday to witness the burial of a time capsule commemorating America’s 250th birthday. The time capsule project was developed by the Prairie Skyline Foundation in conjunction with the City of Crookston and several local businesses, including The Jeweler and Napa Crookston.
Foundation At-Large Board Member Bishop Jensen helped organize the time capsule project, which includes over 250 items donated and collected by the community that showcase the cultural life, education, economy, and personal voices of Crookston and the United States over the last 250 years. “I would say we got to 250 items easily, including all of the business cards and small, peculiar token trips,” explained Jensen. “I would also go on to say, just being the one who got a firsthand experience with all the items at once, that it is a great representation of Crookston in the current and the last 100 years as well, and bringing to light just the differences between the past and the future.”
Jensen began planning the time capsule project in the last year and worked with the board to determine where to bury it, what to include, and how to involve the community in the process. “I kind of had this idea I was willing to host with my local business here I have in town, but the foundation just seemed more appropriate, and so I shifted and asked the board if they were okay with us going ahead with this plan, and they said they were, so then we continued to forge the plan that I had already been thinking of into fruition here at the Prairie Skyline location.”
Since the project was publicly announced in mid-June, residents submitted items to be considered for the time capsule at several locations, including City Hall, the Crookston Public Library, and the Polk County Historical Society. Each item was reviewed by the board to ensure it was appropriate and sized to fit in the time capsule. Jensen said, “We did photograph everything that came in accordance with a ruler or the time capsule itself, and so we hope to put together an archive file, a public archive file, for folks to come in and see what was put forth, and then what made it in. We didn’t really have a whole lot of leftovers. There were a couple of duplicate items that we had kind of just had to opt out between, but we actually got quite a bit in.”
The time capsule was created and donated by Napa of Crookston and is engraved with a Benjamin Franklin quote, an acknowledgment of the items inside, and instructions not to open it until at least July 4, 2076. Jensen thanked Napa, along with other local businesses such as JD Concrete, for their assistance in creating and placing the capsule. “I’d had some suggestions for different businesses and how they could participate, and Napa was kind of in my forefront, because we know them just dominantly for their great welding skills and their phenomenal work that they do around here for all of our farmers and ag business, as well as the industrial complex that we have on the south side of town,” Jensen explained. “So to partner with them, you know, and then being open, open-armed and willing to participate was super awesome, and we greatly appreciate that stuff.”
The time capsule was sealed in front of the assembled crowd and was buried by members of the Prairie Skyline Foundation Board. The time capsule will be covered by a ground marker later this month, which will indicate the same text that was put on the time capsule. The Prairie Skyline Foundation will maintain the site indefinitely and has plans in place for any problems over the next 50 years. “There is a charter plan for its overall maintenance as well, so in some instances, if there’s restoration underway in the buildings and around it, it shouldn’t have to be moved,” said Jensen. “It did need to sit far enough away from the building where it wasn’t subject to land shift and stuff like that, and so it’s been a partnership with the city to procure its location, and we’re very thankful that we have this space here next to one of the buildings that’s a part of the Prairie Skyline Foundation. If things aren’t able to be maintained by its current organization, it has a chartered plan to be taken over by others, but we plan to be here 50 years from now and still procuring preservation for the buildings here at large.”
