The community of Garrettsville came together on July 6 to celebrate “Unveiling Our Roots,” a block party marking the opening of a 100-year-old time capsule. The time capsule, sealed in 1924 by the Garrettsville Study Club, was the highlight of the event, which ran from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Twisted Dish food truck served burgers, quesadillas, and fries, while the historical society provided free donuts and water, and had commemorative shirts and books available for purchase. Volunteers from the historical society, along with residents and business owners, offered historical tours of Garrettsville, featuring presenters in period dress.
The first stop on the tour was located at the Historical Society’s Mott Building at 8107 Main Street, focused on business owners from the 1960s. Gene Smith, owner of Garrettsville Paint and Glass, was portrayed by his grandson Cory Smith. Violet Zipfel Curtiss, owner of the local five and dime store, was portrayed by Debra Blake.
The second stop, in front of MB Realty on Main Street, John Crawford portrayed Art Crane, sharing stories of his maple syrup candy-making days. Debbie Smith, portraying Mae Payne, provided insights into the Study Club, the civic group that initiated the time capsule in 1924.
At station three, attendees were offered a rare public viewing of the Masonic Lodge, celebrating its 170th anniversary this year. James A. and Lucretia Garfield were portrayed by their great-great-great-grandson Tim Garfield and his wife Martha.
At the final stop, the Veterans’ Memorial in front of the Baptist Cemetery on Maple Avenue, Pam Montgomery portrayed Corabelle Trefry, one of Garrettsville’s WWII Gold Star mothers. Owen Bass re-enacted the life of Revolutionary War soldier Ashbel Hoskins.
Music spanning the decades from 1924 through the 2020s was performed by Karen Kelker Miller, Herman Pitsinger, Jack Carmichael, and Pat Amor. Local singers Michelle McDowell and Mistie Obreza, accompanied by Pat Amor on keyboard, performed “My Garrettsville,” a song sung at the installation of the time capsule in 1924 to the tune of “America the Beautiful.”
At noon, the event reached its peak with the opening of the time capsule. Event co-chairs Denise Ellerhorst and Tim Smith were joined by JAG Historical Society President Debbie Smith, Garrettsville Mayor Rick Patrick, and a representative from the AM250 foundation.
The time capsule, a small metal box cemented into a clay drainage tile, had been exposed to temperature fluctuations and water infiltration over the past century, leaving its contents in rough shape. Inside, Smith and Ellerhorst found several issues of the Cleveland Plain Dealer from 1924, a program from the 1924 Republican National Convention held in Cleveland, a copy of the Garrettsville Journal newspaper, and a souvenir program from Garrettsville’s centennial celebration.
The contents of the 1924 time capsule will be on display inside the JAG Historical Society after they are cleaned up and preserved. A new “state of the art” time capsule has been purchased, and will be filled and installed later this year, with Pesicek Concrete & Construction Services tasked with creating a new enclosure once demolotion of the old monument’s base is complete.
