Committee open to ideas for items to include in time capsule, to be be buried at Meredith Old Home Day

MEREDITH — The 250th birthday of the United States of America only comes once, and the town is making sure that 50 years from now, future residents will know it was properly honored with a time capsule.

The Meredith 250th Celebration Committee put on an Independence Day parade with an array of floats and participants to commemorate the big anniversary. Since then, the committee has been working to continue that celebration during the triumphant return of Meredith Old Home Day.

The time capsule will be buried during the festivities.

“We are going to bury this capsule, and hope that someone will see a note, probably a sticky somewhere, that says, ‘Please open this on July 4, 2076,” committee Chair Chris Kelly told the selectboard Aug. 24. “Some of us will still be here, some of us won’t.”

Kelly said he was fortunate to work alongside Marilee Sundius, Lynn Leighton, Monica Bennett, Jeanie Forrester, Paul Moreau, Kathy Lapointe, Glen Lapointe, Vinnie Hale, Howard Porter, Carol Gerken and Amy Grimm.

They met Aug. 17, to discuss the idea of a time capsule, what to put in it, and where and when to bury it. Kelly said this has been a collaborative effort between his committee and the Old Home Day Committee about logistics.

Location ideas included Community Park, Hesky Park, the Meredith Community Center garden, and Meredith Public Library. The committee ultimately voted on Community Park.

“For many reasons,” Kelly said. “We don’t think that anyone else has buried a time capsule there.”

Kelly said this is also a spot where plenty of activity will be taking place for Old Home Day.

Meredith Old Home Day will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19. While the town was incorporated in 1768, the event is focused on the 250 years since America was born. The celebration will include local bands and entertainers, craft vendors, nonprofit groups, an egg toss, scavenger hunt, a climbing wall, dunk tank, bouncy house, and a pie eating contest.

The time capsule will be buried at 11 a.m.

Rusty McLear — known for helping revitalize Meredith Village years back with his past investment in area hotels — will be the grand marshal. Heather Bishop is the master of ceremonies at the event.

According to information provided by the Old Home Day Committee, the time capsule will provide future residents a way of recognizing the past. The idea came from Forrester, a selectboard member who is on both the Old Home Day and 250th Anniversary committees.

Kelly said the capsule will include a “really nice granite capstone,” engraved with the town seal on top, as well as what people can find inside.

The engraving will read as follows: “On this 19th day of September, 2026, this time capsule is dedicated to the people of Meredith, New Hampshire in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, to be opened on July 4, 2076.”

The committee has been brainstorming ideas on what to include. Ideas floated range from commemorative NH license plates, a 250th celebration t-shirt, small state and U.S. flags, photographs, a list of parade participants and a town report, to a rubber ducky, a Boy Scout Troop 55 patch, and signed letters from the selectboard and the committee, as well as photos of the groups.

Forrester is also director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the state Department of Business and Economic Affairs, and will reach out to Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) about including a proclamation.

“The committee has had a lot of fun and had a lot of neat ideas,” Kelly said. “Seriously, if you do have ideas of things you’d like to see in this capsule, let us know. If it can fit, let’s do it.”

The cylindrical capsule won’t have a lot of room, but Kelly isn’t worried.

“Believe me, we are going to jam it full of stuff,” he said.

Kelly said anyone with ideas can reach out to him at 603-677-2182.