A museum is certainly an appropriate place to explore the damp and dusty remnants of history, so the contents of the time capsule opened during the 20th anniversary celebration of the Town of Fountain Hills incorporation has arrived at just such a place.

Last week the time capsule was delivered to the L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum where the items will be sorted and prepared for display.

The plastic storage container used for the capsule proved to be less than ideal for protecting the material from moisture and dirt. In fact moisture caused enough damage to make some items likely irretrievable.

Rino Ghetti, the town staff person who first sorted the contents after it was opened by former Mayor John Cutillo and Mayor Jay Schlum, said he removed a considerable amount of dirt from the capsule along with the items.

What the capsule reveals is somewhat subject to interpretation, but there are certainly signs of a young community still uncertain of its identity.

The box was buried Jan. 19, 1992, just a few years after incorporation, and the representations of town government are minimal.

There was a video-tape container with paperwork that appears to have names of town staff. However, during The Times’ exploration of the capsule we did not open that container due to the amount of moisture still surrounding the bag it was placed in.

Initially it was not certain whether the video box contained a video tape or not. The plastic containers used for tapes worked well for storing things that went into the capsule.

A Fountain Hills Girl Scout Troop gathered various memorabilia from their troop including photos and patches and placed them in a plastic video box for safe keeping.

One identifiable patch was for participation in the 1988 Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Those interested in knowing what the hot properties in Fountain Hills were in 1991 could find a sales brochure and packet left by MCO Properties. The literature featured the North Heights and Glenbrook subdivisions.

Still taking baby steps as a town, items promoting Scottsdale events and activities were included in the capsule.

A January 1992 edition of the Arizona Sentinel featured the Parada del Sol and Barrett Jackson auto auction. The Times later purchased the Arizona Sentinel and today it is called Let’s Go!

There was also a copy of Scottsdale Scene magazine.

During 1991 Fountain Hills celebrated 20 years as a community, mostly before incorporation, and the time capsule had plenty of items depicting that celebration. In fact, the burial of the time capsule was billed as the closure of that anniversary celebration.

The capsule contained special commemorative anniversary editions from The Times of Fountain Hills and Rio Verde (the official name of the paper at that time) and the Scottsdale Progress.

There is a bag containing several items used for the anniversary celebration including “Spirit of Community” bumper stickers, note cards and napkins. There was also a golf bag tag for a special tournament event.

The School District was a prominent participant in the time capsule project. School Superintendent at the time, Walt Dunne, helped Cutillo place the capsule in the ground for burial. Dunne, now a volunteer with the museum, is currently working to get the material ready for display.

There is a program for the ground breaking ceremony for Fountain Hills Junior/Senior High School. There is also several pages that appear to have been signed by school staff and students in sixth, seventh and eighth grade.

There is also a 1991 McDowell Mountain Elementary School Yearbook.

There is also a nameplate for Nancy Puffer, a School Board member at the time.

The time capsule also contains a number of items from various civic organizations. There is a video tape placed by the Fountain Hills veterans organizations, a couple of audio tapes, one with Christmas music and another about Fountain Hills.

The Fountain Hills Desert Pride Lioness Club had a pin placed among the items, the Fire District had a video tape about its EDITH House fire safety training facility, there is information on the members of the Fountain Hills Women’s Club in 1991 and a badge for the Fountain Hills Auto Club “Motary 1991.”

Appropriate for the unveiling for the 20th anniversary of incorporation, the capsule contains hundreds of 20th anniversary buttons from that earlier celebration.

There were so many buttons, and with the coincidental timing of the celebrations, Ghetti thought it might have been planned. There is no evidence that is the case.

Currently the Town of Fountain Hill is planning for the future. Items are being collected for another time capsule to be retrieved at the town’s 50th anniversary of incorporation in 2049. Right now, the plan is to bury the new capsule near the Community Center entrance in a vessel yet to be determined.

Perhaps one of the more interesting items found in the capsule just unearthed are several pages of instruction on a couple of different methods of building a time capsule container. This may be a good item to review before placing a new one in the ground.