100-year-old time capsule opened

MILLBROOK — One hundred years ago the Millbrook Fire Department moved into its new firehouse and buried a time capsule underneath the cornerstone.

On Sunday, Oct. 17, uniformed members of the fire department followed their color guard from the current firehouse down Washington Avenue to the corner of Church Street, where the original firehouse is now occupied by the architectural firm of Ed Loedy.

The firemen knew where to look for the buried time capsule from contemporaneous minutes, and prior to the ceremony Skip Ciferri and Loedy had dug out around the cornerstone to prepare for Sunday’s time capsule opening.

The anticipation was great and no one knew what to expect. How big would it be? What would it be made of? How would you open it? What would be inside?

A plain, rectangular metal container about the size of a brick was retrieved from underneath the corner of the building. The top was pried off easily and inside was a folded and fragile Millbrook Mirror and Roundtable newspaper from Feb. 19, 1909 with a front-page story about the Bank of Millbrook. In much worse condition than the newspaper was an undated, handwritten signature list with 30 barely legible names. A third item was very crumbled and may have been a copy of the fire department’s constitution and bylaws. There were some coins, including a 1909 penny, and some stamps.

More than 100 people in the audience had hoped for a glimpse of what life in the firehouse was like 100 years ago, or maybe some photographs of fire equipment or predictions about the future. Town Supervisor Florence Prisco had imagined that something religious might be included. What people learned is that preserving whatever you put in a time capsule is critical. One person in the audience said the paper looked worse than the Dead Sea scrolls.

Before the opening of the capsule, Laurie Duncan, president of the Millbrook Historical Society, talked about the founding of the fire department in 1908 and the first hook and ladder, complete with leather buckets.

In 1930, after his family home had been damaged by fire, Oakleigh Thorne contributed $1,000 to purchase the Seagrave fire engine, which has been found and restored to its original condition. Loedy presented a small scale replica of the Seagrave to the fire company.

Visiting N.Y.P.D. Battalion Chief Dan Dailey, who travels the world for the U.S. Department of State addressing fire departments as part of a good will outreach, spoke about the global brotherhood of fireman and Ground Zero.

After the speeches and the opening of the capsule, the Ladies Auxiliary served cider and doughnuts and the Seagrave fire engine, driven by James Brownell, accompanied by his mother, drove back to the firehouse.

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