Memories most important find in time capsule
Six former Girl Scout leaders gathered on June 18 at Historic Schoenbrunn Village to open a time capsule put together on June 19, 1991 at a Summer Fun Days event at Schoenbrunn Village. Pictured are Judy Tornabene, left, Cathy Garrison, Mary Demuth Rinella, Brenda Shroyer, Joyce Lindsay, and Debbie Alpeter.
It was a trip back 30 years as former Girl Scout leaders and others gathered at Historic Schoenbrunn Village to open a time capsule prepared at a Girl Scout Summer Fun Days event on June 19, 1991.
Three committee members, Joyce Lindsay of New Philadelphia, Mary (Demuth) Rinella of Sugarcreek, and Judy Tornabene of New Philadelphia, of the original Summer Fun Committee were in attendance to open the box. The fourth committee member was Diane Sickinger.
Also in attendance were Cindy Hannah of New Philadelphia, Stacey Shroyer of Dover, Rick Rinella, and Schoenbrunn Village staff Joan Beorn, Joe Stein, and Debbie Alpeter, who is also a former Girl Scout Leader. Stein used a drill to unseal the box.
The leaders thought they might find some of the projects the girls had completed during camp like necklaces, bell and cup toys, a pioneer bag, and a handkerchief Civil War Doll. What they found instead was a slice of life with everyday items from 1991 including some music related items like a list cut from the newspaper of top hits and memorabilia from one popular music group.
“What impressed me was what was popular back then and how important Tuscarawas County history was to the girls,” Rinella said, she served as a Girl Scout troop leader for more than 10 years. “We had Earl Olmstead here (to speak to the group) but they included all these Tuscarawas County brochures and took pictures of the local area. (It was exciting) to just seeing our swap items, our hats, the activities that we did, and what was important to them. And, of course, The New Kids on The Block were very important.”
As they read aloud the names of the troop members and their items, what proved most valuable was the recollections the women had of the Girl Scout members themselves. The girls had included their names on most items and the memories came flooding back.
The Summer Fun Days event, sponsored by the Schoenbrunn Valley Girl Scout Troop of the Great Trail Council, was held June 17-19, the first two days were held at Tuscora Park and the final day was held at Schoenbrunn Village where the time capsule was put together.
The metal capsule was sealed and then put on a shelf in the office at Schoenbrunn for the next 30 years. Since it was not buried, the items – stored in one gallon size storage bags – were in mostly the same condition as they were 30 years ago.
Other finds in the box included a phone book, a copy of the Times-Reporter newspaper announcing the beginning of the Gulf War from Jan. 1991, and a VHS video of Girl Scout activities from the time.
The writing on the VHS video was immediately recognized.
“This is my handwriting,” Rinella said. “It's everything that we did at the day camp, it’s priceless.”
The women plan to have the VHS tape converted to another format so they can share it with the former leaders and members.
Fun finds included empty soda cans, a few toys from fast food meals, a box that once contained Girl Scout cookies, and a box from Barbie cereal that sold for $1.99.
There was at least one baseball fan at the 1991 event; found in the box was a Paul Molitor baseball card, at the time he played for the Milwaukee Brewers. The card was a good find as Molitor was once compared to Joe DiMaggio, played for 21 years in the major leagues mostly as a third baseman and he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2004.
Lifetime Girl Scouts member, Joyce Lindsay, as her final official act as a Girl Scout leader, will return the as many items as she can to the leaders and the Junior Girl Scouts who put them into the time capsule originally along with a note recording the date the capsule was sealed, June 19, 1991, and June 18, 2021, the date it was opened.
Lindsay will also soon oversee the opening of another smaller 1991 time capsule that is at Gnadenhutten.
Some of the activities at the 1991 Summer Fun Days event included merit badge work on primitive weapons and square dancing. They also raised and lowered the flag each day, enjoyed a friendship circle, singing, swimming at Tuscora Park, crafts, a tour of Schoenbrunn Village and a presentation by local historian, the late Earl Olmstead, at the Schoenbrunn Schoolhouse.
“The Girl Scout merit badges are so different today,” Rinella said.
She was impressed with some of the recent badges added to Girl Scout projects like Entrepreneur where girls learn to build their own business plan and think about topics like production, cost, profit, marketing and competition. STEM career exploration to connect the girls to fields such as computer science, nature/environmental science, engineering, design, health and agriculture. The Automotive engineering badge has members learning about designing, engineering and manufacturing vehicles. A Civics badge has the Scouts learn about how all levels of government work. They also research their local leaders and are encouraged to meet them.
The Great Trail Council is no longer in existence, for more information about Girl Scouts Northeast Ohio visit their website at gsneo.org.