News
27 November, 2024
Blast from past
A time capsule from 1988 was opened by Somerset Council at the Fernvale Community Hall on Saturday, November 23, six months after the date assigned for the opening.
Having been buried by two now-extinct committees in 1988, Council was never made aware of the burial and set opening date when they were given the Fernvale Showgrounds and Community Hall, resulting in the capsule remaining closed until now.
After two local boys rode past the stone monument and read the plaque “to be opened May 11, 2024,” they notified Council and set forth the mission to get the capsule opened.
Given the Fernvale Hall Committee and Fernvale Bicentenary Committee are both extinct, Council can only speculate the opening was associated with the Fernvale State School’s 150th birthday, celebrated on May 11, 2024.
The capsule revealed many historic artefacts from the 80s, including various local newspaper editions, a brochure about the opening of Wivenhoe Dam in 1985, a directory, photos and letters, and signatures from students of the school at the time.
Council will pass all the documents to its records department.
