The future may be unknown, but, in 50 years time, the people of Meadow Lake should have a clear picture of what life was like in the community in 2025. In conjunction with the June 24 grand opening of the Co-op Centre – the new arena and recreation facility located on Meadow Lake’s east side – the city is putting together a time capsule that will include a number of everyday items from today. The capsule will be sealed, stored somewhere on the grounds of the Co-op Centre and won’t be reopened until the year 2075.
“The idea came about with the Co-op Centre build,” explained Asma Qadri, the city’s director of finance and the person in charge of the time capsule project. “This new facility is a real milestone for the community, and the time capsule allows future generations to recognize its opening and to continue to remember the efforts of the community of today that went into building this structure.”
Qadri also feels it will be interesting for younger community members who may still be a part of the community in 50 years time. “These young tykes will be about 60 years old by then, and, when the time capsule is opened, they may see a drawing or a story they placed inside of it,” Qadri said. “Or, maybe their grandkids discover these items… It’s a way of keeping the connection strong between generations.” Contributions for the time capsule are being accepted from all members of the Meadow Lake community.
“We’ve reached out to the schools and to the different community groups such as the library, Legion and museum, and so on,” Qadri said. “Unfortunately, we’re limited with the time capsule in terms of its size, so, as a committee within the city, we will need to determine what does go in and what doesn’t, mainly because of size and duplication. Otherwise, it’s going in there.” Some of the items the city has received for the time capsule thus far include badges from the various emergency services, children’s drawings, commemorative coins from the RCMP as well as Canada Post, a copy of the Pride Pages telephone directory and various issues of Northern Pride itself. The deadline to submit an item for the capsule is June 20. “We would like to have the time capsule encased during the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Co-op Centre June 24,” Qadri added. Meanwhile, Qadri also shared how exciting it has been to work on the time capsule project.
“The fun component is definitely there when imagining what people will be like in 50 years,” she said. “I know for a fact I won’t be around in 2075, but to imagine the community members discovering who was here, who contributed to the Co-op Centre and the building of the community. We’ve asked the schools to have students send us drawings and stories of what they think Meadow Lake will be like in 50 years, so to open that and to see how accurate they were is an element of fun going forward. I also hope some of the items we put in there will gain in value.”
Qadri did state, however, she is hesitant to include technological items such as USB sticks and whatnot considering the technology will likely be obsolete 50 years from now. “We can no longer access a floppy disc and that was not even 25 years ago,” she said.
Also excited about the time capsule is mayor Merlin Seymour. “Some of our administration team thought it would be a good idea to put together an opportunity for the residents of Meadow Lake to provide some artifacts, etc. from our current day to be put into a time capsule to be opened in 50 years,” Seymour said. “This would give our residents a chance to share some things that could be opened up down the road and reflected upon by those who will have the opportunity to see this. As times change quite quickly, I would love to have the opportunity to see where the city is 50 years from now and the changes that are in store. Coordinating this with the opening of our brand new recreation facility is a great idea.”
Anyone interested in contributing to the time capsule can drop their items off at city hall or call the city at 306-236-3622 to make arrangements. When calling, ask for Kasha.