Granum School opens time capsule

By Rob Vogt

Students and staff at Granum School got a glimpse into what life was like at the school 30 years ago.
On Dec. 17, at an assembly of students, staff and community members, a time capsule was opened.
Two Grade 9 students, Seth Brobbel and August Litchfield, were cleaning out a storage area and found the time capsule.
The school waited until December to open it, because the time capsule was put together exactly 30 years ago in December of 1994.
Byron Neu was the teacher at the time the time capsule was assembled.
He returned to the school for the assembly and provided some background information.
Neu taught the graduating Grade 9, and the purpose of the time capsule was simple.
“To leave a trail so we could figure out what was going on back then,” he said.
He asked area farmer Harvey Donahue, whose wife worked at the school, to weld together a box, that was sealed with a padlock.
Neu admitted he did not have a good recollection of what was in the time capsule.
However, he suspected it would have samples of student work, and an accounting of what they thought the future might be.
Current Principal Randy Bohnet said the time capsule connects the school to its past, and the people who went before who built what they have today.
Lynne Penniket, a former Granum School principal, explained in 1994 Granum had two different schools.
The Grade 1 to 4 students were in the elementary school, while the Grade 5 to 9 students were in the junior high building. Both schools even had their own gyms at one point.
The time capsule was stored in a display case in the junior high building.
“My son was one of the kids in Mr. Neu’s Grade 9 class,” Penniket said, adding he contributed to filling it.
When that building was torn down to make way for a new school, the time capsule was put into storage, until recently discovered.
“As the time capsule will tell you, times do change,” said Penniket.
The students and staff then had a trivia game called, “Are you smarter than a 1994er?”
The most enthusiastic engaged student would then have the chance to help open the time capsule. That student was Brody Barber.
With the assistance of bolt cutters and good old-fashioned elbow grease, Bohnet and Barber opened the time capsule.
Inside they discovered old newspapers, the school handbook, a school newspaper, letters, and much more.
Bohnet planned to put these artifacts on display in the school for everyone to see.
He also said the school will be putting together its own time capsule starting in the new year.