A time capsule will be buried under Reid Street before construction ends.
The time capsule, which will be filled with photos, videos and other items, is the brainchild of Ted Martindale, the owner of Granville’s Coffee.
In conjunction with the Downtown Association and the City of Quesnel, Martindale wants to capture the essence of life in Quesnel in 2018.
“We’re going to go downtown and take videos of people’s families. There’ll be lots of hard pictures too. We’re going to go all over town and take pictures in car dealerships, restaurants — everything. So, that’s the plan,” says Martindale.
The time capsule, a large metal box that seals at the top, is designed to preserve items for approximately two hundred years. It comes with extra components to suck moisture and oxygen out of the capsule once it is sealed.
Residents are encouraged to drop off their own family photos, videos and “whatever else would be pertinent to life in Quesnel in 2018” to be included in the time capsule. Martindale adds that people can also write about their family and life on the backs of the photos to provide a fuller picture.
He says that handwritten stories about life in Quesnel will make them more personal when they are dug up and read in the future.
Martindale says he came up with the idea for the time capsule after he saw the construction workers tearing up the asphalt. “My mind is always flying around in a million different directions,” says Martindale. “I saw them digging up the street and at first I thought, ‘Well, just go and buy a cash box and then put stuff in there or something.’ And then I approached the Downtown Association, and they said, ‘Great!’
“I always have crazy ideas and everybody just laughs at me … finally, I get one of my crazy ideas and everybody says ‘Oh yeah, let’s do it.’”
The time capsule, which cost about $2,500, was paid for by the Downtown Association. Martindale himself bought a GoPro camera that he plans to drive around town to film footage of all the sudivisions and roads. He says he plans to go as far as Hixon and Kersley in either direction, because he wants to include places relevant to people in Quesnel.
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He’s also hoping to include photos of Reid Street and the downtown area before the construction started.
When the time capsule is finally buried, there will be a plaque to mark the spot. In the case construction once again rips up the road in the not-so-distant future, the capsule will also have instructions to be re-buried.
Anything that you would like to go in the time capsule can be dropped off at K-Max Games or the Downtown Association office at 246 St. Laurent Avenue, unit 102.
heather.norman@quesnelobserver.com
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