Bob Wilde remembers the day the time capsule was laid at the former Orillia District Collegiate and Vocational Institute (ODCVI), where it was encased in a block of concrete and sealed into the wall.
The Orillia resident, who was in Grade 11 at the time, said he recalls looking out the window as the box was being put in.
Wilde was at Orillia Secondary School (OSS) Sunday afternoon to take a closer look at the items that came out of the time capsule, which was opened Friday morning. The time capsule was salvaged during the demolition of the former high school.
“I had no idea what was going in it,” Wilde said of the time capsule.
Wilde was very excited to see his name in The Oricolle, the school's yearbook that contains names and short descriptions of prominent students. (Click here to take a look at the Oricolle)
“It feels great,” he said. “I’ve got pretty good memories of school.”
Wilde added it’s important to look at history preserved in time capsules because it’s things we take for granted in this day and age.
“We don’t think about what times were like back then, unless we see a picture,” he said.
Along with Wilde, dozens of people lined up to take a peek at the time capsule's contents. Some of the items included old issues of the Packet & Times, coins and stamps from that ‘40s, and lists of student and staff.
It’s history come alive, said David Brooks, the vice principal at OSS.
“This connects the schools as a place within the broader community,” he said. “Look at the memories that are coming out here. We have already had two gentlemen here who found themselves in the student list.”
Bev Goulding, who had come all the way from Ajax, graduated from ODCVI in 1989.
“It’s important to recognize those who came in the community before us,” she said. “Those who put the time capsule in imagined this day, and they need to be honoured and celebrated.”
Goulding said she enjoyed looking at the social side of the community at that time reading what the newspapers had reported in that year.
“Seeing how society has changed is really fascinating for me,” she said.
