Wanted: On Line Messages to 2059

April 27, 2009 – If you could write a letter to the future, what would it say?

The City of Thunder Bay, in conjunction with the Thunder Bay Historical Museum and the Chronicle-Journal, is asking that question of the people of Thunder Bay. The answers will be put together to create a time capsule. It will be placed in the walls of City Hall this fall and opened in the year 2059, 50 years from now.

Members of the public now have the chance to help build the time capsule online.

On the City’s website, there is now an opportunity to write a letter to the future. “Tell people in 2059 what life is like in Thunder Bay right now. Reflect on the good and the bad, and the beautiful, on the challenges and the opportunities facing us,” said City Archivist Matt Szybalski. “These letters will be printed and placed in the time capsule, and will also be saved for the future in electronic format. We are doing this in a way that reflects today’s way of communicating. Please visit the Time Capsule Blog.”

Visitors to the blog will also be able to suggest unique and representative items to be placed in the time capsule, to represent different aspects of life in Thunder Bay. “Think of things that will ‘wow’ people in 2059 – items that they will not be able to find at the Museum, the Archives, or the Library,” said Museum Director Tory Tronrud. The City will try to fit as wide a variety of objects into the new time capsule as possible. A separate blog has been established on the City’s website to record your suggestions.

This time capsule will be following an established tradition: last summer, one was discovered at City Hall containing objects from 1903 and from 1966. This original time capsule will be resealed and placed with the new one, also to be opened in 50 years’ time.

To participate, or for more information, visit www.thunderbay.ca/timecapsule

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Contact: Matt Szybalski, City Archivist, 807-625-3390