Bruce Johnson, Julie Viren, and Jana Larson (checkered shirt) all took delight in looking at the treasures found in the 20-year-old time capsule recently opened at the school.
The Sawtooth Elementary classes of 1997-98 left a time capsule that was supposed to be opened in 20 years. The only problem was, no one remembered where the sealed tablet capsule was placed— or buried—or that it was intended to be retrieved at all.
Two months ago Cook County News- Herald writer Bill Neil was thumbing through the 1998 copy of the Cook County News-Herald when he “thumbled” upon an article about the time capsule.
“Can you call up there and see when the capsule will be opened so we can get a picture?” Bill asked me.
“Sure,” I said, reaching for the phone and placed a call to one of the high school secretaries. Cindy answered. Of course, when both secretaries are named Cindy, Cindy Everson or Cindy Crawford, there was a better than even chance that Cindy would pick up the phone.
“Can you tell us (at the newspaper) when the time capsule will be opened?” I asked Cindy.
The time capsule was made and sealed by Sawtooth Elementary fourth-graders, with the stipulation that it would be opened in 20 years. Shown with their project in this June 9, 1997 News-Herald photo are teacher Andrea Peterson with students Jamie Olson and Jesse Wannemacher.
“What time capsule?” was Cindy’s reply.
So it began. I called the head custodian, who hasn’t been at the school for 20 years, so he was stumped. I talked to a couple of other staff, and they were stumped. Finally, I called former elementary teacher Andrea Peterson, who was mentioned in the article. This, of course, happened after exhausting what I believed were all leads at the school.
“Do you know where the time capsule was buried?” I asked Andrea.
“Uh, no,” she said, and I could just about hear the wheels turning in her head. “Let’s see. Yes, we did make a time capsule. But I’m not sure if we buried it or put it in the school in some special place,” she said. “Why don’t you call Jana Larson, she was there when we put the time capsule together.”
Jana giggled when she was reminded about the time capsule. “I don’t know where it is, but I will start searching,” she promised. Three weeks went by, and I figured the capsule had ended up in a recycling ward for old things that shouldn’t have been pitched. But lo and behold, Larson called and said she had found the capsule on a forlorn shelf.
Standing by the time capsule are from left to right: Bruce Johnson, Jana Larson, Pam Taylor and on the other side of the table are Julie Viren, Lorelei Livingston and Scott Steinbach. The capsule was small but held big memories, along with the hopes and dreams of the kids who contributed to it.
So what was in it? Pictures of the classes, she said. Journals, a couple of cassette tapes, A Gateway to Science classroom book with a big leopard (or tiger) on the cover of the science book. One item was menus from the Pie Place and South of the Border (SOB). The Pie Place special of the week was fresh strawberry banana pie for $
A hamburger basket cost $3.50 at SOB and coffee, or tea was an additional 50 cents.
Clifford, the Big Red Dog, was featured in Scholastic News. Kate Davis wrote in her journal that her favorite food was ramen noodles. Tim Morgan said a typical day at school “is we always do math.”
Some of the books the kids were reading were Amber Brown is not a Crayon, The Baby Sitter’s Club, Goosebumps, Karen’s Kitty Cat Club. The math book everybody referred to was called “Every Day Mathematics” and one of the highlights of the year for the older kids was taking a trip to Wolf Ridge. That still rates as a highlight for many kids.
In the elementary school vote for president, Bill Clinton came away from the kids’ election the big winner. Mrs. Patten’s class presented 12 votes to Clinton, three to Bob Dole. Mrs. Derewenkle’s class gave Dole eight votes and 14 for Clinton. Dole tallied three votes in Ms. Holte’s class while Clinton garnered 13, Ross Perot received one vote, and two undecided votes were cast.
Mrs. Ege’s class gave Dole seven votes and 13 for Clinton. Mr. Steinbrenner’s class was an outlier. Dole won with seven votes, Clinton gained five and Perot one. Clinton took 11 out of 12 votes in Mrs. Viren’s class, and Dole received five votes to Clinton’s 14 and Perot’s three in Peterson’s class. Mrs. Larson’s (Jana) class went five for Dole, eight for Clinton and eight for Perot. Mr. Sheils gave Dole eight votes and Clinton 13 while Mrs. Kidd’s class gave Dole three, Perot three, and Bill Clinton 15 votes.
When asked what they liked about school Mrs. Schliep’s kindergarten class was almost unanimous in their responses. Jake (there were no last names given) said he liked to play; Cameron enjoyed making things; Leah was into doing projects; twins Cody and Casey both stated that they liked the gym; Sam loved to play outside; and Emily was all in for swimming lessons. Quite a few kids said they enjoyed swimming lessons and playing. No one said anything about wanting to study a lot or even a little.
“Carmen had a broken arm today at school,” wrote Mrs. Schliep. Carmen said her favorite school activity was swimming.
In Mrs. Viren’s class Reed Lehto wrote, “We are the last third-grade class at Sawtooth Elementary, and we know it. Seth Falk said in 20 years, he “wanted to get a job and a pet snake.”
When asked, “What will be the best about our new school?” Gwendolyn Danfelt, a fourth grader in Mrs. Peterson’s class, wrote, “That there will be doors and windows in all of the classrooms.”
Responding to the question, “What is special about your class?” Danfelt replied, “That we won the Pigskin Geography Contest.”
Fellow fourth-grader Kyle Ford said that in 20 years he expected to “be digging up the time capsule.” Kyle’s classmate Paul Johnson said that after 20 years, “I will be a carpenter living near Grand Marais with a family, and dog.”
Today Paul is an airplane mechanic who moved from Colorado to Duluth for his work and to be nearer to Grand Marais. He is married to Bridget, has a dog named Kona, but no kids yet.
The time capsule is on display in the hallway outside of the high school office. When school is over it will be given to the Cook County Historical Society and put on display in the future for all to see. It is, truly, a found treasure.
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