The lobby of the Oak Lawn Village Hall was filled with anticipation Tuesday as residents and workers gathered to watch the opening of a time capsule sealed 35 years ago.
Before pulling all of the items out, Mayor Terry Vorderer reminded everyone of the purpose of the time capsule, calling it a gift of being reminded of what the village once was.
Vorderer said looking inside the capsule would be revisiting history and looking at what the village once was like and how it has shaped what it’s like today.
Inside the capsule, sealed March 10, 1991, was memorabilia of different aspects of Oak Lawn. Photos, business cards and roster lists of different village departments, including elected officials, officers, agents and employees, were retrieved.
Attendees chuckled after seeing how inexpensive billing statements, fees, budgets and licenses were compared to today.
Vorderer pulled out general report forms the Police Department used to fill out for different cases, including arrests, vehicle theft and missing persons sheets.
Historical artifacts about the village and Chicago, including a photo of fire personnel following the 1967 tornado, were put inside as well as a special section on Oak Lawn that was published by the Chicago Tribune.
Yearbooks, handbooks, planning guides and rulebooks between 1989 and 1991 from Oak Lawn Community High School and Harold L. Richards High School were inside.
About 80 items were put inside the capsule, according to a list found inside.
Vorderer said he was a lieutenant of the Oak Lawn Police Department when the capsule was sealed.
“I was here and I knew all those people, and all those documents was kind of reviewing my history of the village,” he said. “It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago, and here we are 35 years later.”
Though he did not have an exact answer as to why the capsule was chosen to be opened after 35 years despite, rather than 50 or 100 years, he said “maybe in 1991, 2026 seemed like forever.”
He hadn’t had a chance to look in-depth at all of the names he saw, but recognized several and was reminded of mortality after realizing how many of them are no longer alive.
Roger Minnis has worked for the village for 46 years and is building engineer. Recalling some of the names was interesting, he said. He realized some of the people named on the documents and photos were dead and some still alive did not come to the opening of the capsule.
Minnis said he included the article from the Chicago Tribune.
Ahead of the opening the capsule, he said everyone kept asking him what was inside, but he couldn’t remember.
‘It kind of brought back some memories,” Minnis said.
Vorderer intends to seal another time capsule for another 35 years. He wants to keep some of the contents that were in this one, so people can understand and see more of the history and eventually total up to 100 years of history, if the tradition continues.
“I just told the staff, I said, ‘I want a penny,”’ Vorderer said. “I said, ‘I want a 2026 penny, this is the last year to make them.”’
Items removed from the capsule will be on display at the Oak Lawn Village Hall, 9446 Raymond Ave.
Cam’ron Hardy is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
