To celebrate 200 years of Ypsilanti, the Ypsilanti Bicentennial Commission will be opening Ypsilanti's sesquicentennial time capsule for the public’s viewing. Originally buried on July 8, 1973, the event will take place on July 4.
The grand opening will take place from noon to 2 p.m., right after Ypsilanti’s annual 4th of July parade. The parade ends in Depot Town, and the capsule opening will take place at Riverside Park.
For centuries, the time capsule has been located under the grass of Ypsilanti’s namesake statue, Demetrius Ypsilanti, a former Greek army officer. The time capsule instructs residents to open it on July 4, 2023.
Many activities will be taking place around the time of the parade, but for participants of the time capsule, there is more.
“We organized a hot dog luncheon for the first 300 people that participate in watching the unearthing of the time capsule,” Katie Jones, community member and coordinator of the event, said. “The commission believes this is a good way to garner involvement from the community, by providing an incentive for community members during this celebratory time.”
Jones understands the event’s significance to the community.
“It is a historic event for Ypsilanti, this festival replicates the same one that took place in 1973.”
A slide show presentation will also take place during the time capsule’s grand opening. It will first show audience members what items were placed within the capsule in 1973. After, the presentation will discuss each of the item’s significance.
Only a few community members who were around for the original burial of the time capsule know what was placed inside of it. Even Jones is unaware of the contents. However, that doesn’t stop her and other community members from thinking about their own would-be time capsule items.
“It would have been different from what people normally put in them,” Jones said. “I have witnessed other time capsule openings and they are usually letters, newspapers, or things that would have decomposed in time. I, instead, would put a technology of the time, a specific item of value, or maybe even a coin of the time. Something that would last.”
The event is free to the public.
