Pictured, from left, Topher Wiseman, Trevor Jaynes, Cindy Nash and Ethel Massing.

LEESBURG —  Thirty-one years ago Claypool Elementary teacher Cindy Nash was a teacher at the former Leesburg Elementary School. She taught fourth grade students in the gifted and talented program, which was referred to as ‘PACE’ at that time.

Nash and five of her fourth grade PACE students put together a time capsule and buried it on the school grounds. That building and grounds is now Maple Leaf Farms.

“The time capsule idea came from an education company called Interact,” said Nash. “The time capsule unit taught students how to put articles in a capsule to provide memories and predict the future. We believe we included popular trends of the 1980s, music, foods, tv shows, slang and politics.”

Nash said the group also made predictions about the future such as hairstyles, education, fads and fashions.

The items were placed in a large, plastic bucket with a lid, provided by Serenade Foods. The group buried the bucket in front of the former school by the cafeteria windows and behind a small, brick wall. Nash recently obtained permission from management at Maple Leaf Farms to dig up the time capsule.

At 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 19, Nash and four of the former classmates, Michelle Hyden, Ethel Massing, Trevor Jaynes and Topher Wiseman, met up with the intent of unearthing the capsule to see if the items survived the elements.

The group was surprised to find that the area, which was dirt and grass years ago, was now covered with landscaping fabric and rocks – lots of rocks.  No one seemed to be 100 percent sure of the exact location where the time capsule had been buried.

“I can remember falling off the monkey bars in kindergarten, but I can’t remember where we buried the time capsule,” said Hyden. 

After two hours of digging up rocks and dirt with shovels, cutting through landscaping fabric and using a probe, the group grudgingly agreed to cease their efforts – for now.

The general consensus was to ask around and see if anyone has suggestions for how to proceed. The idea of contacting a ground penetrating radar company was discussed.

“The real value of this is that we all got to get together and reminisce and tell stories about the things we actually do remember,” said Jaynes.