1984 Bangor time barrel to be opened Sunday

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Back in 1984, when Bangor schoolchildren were asked to contribute to a 2001 “time barrel” during the celebration of the city’s sesquicentennial, this new millennium must have seemed a long way off.

Although just 17 years ago, the project elicited some wonderful contributions from youngsters who in some instances accurately predicted life as we know it today.

A Bangor Daily News article at the time described some of those predictions.

One fourth-grader wrote, “I hope in the year 2001 that computers will be more efficient and correct mistakes.”

Another hoped “Bangor remains in the forefront of historical building preservation while making all buildings of public interest handicapped accessible.”

However, a few ideas from fifth-graders have yet to see the light of day.

“Maybe desks will be able to do your paper for you. Or maybe the robots will be able to clean your desks for you. Or maybe cars will have robots to push them.”

Others dreamed of “gum that will never lose its flavor” and 5-foot-long candy bars “with a lot of flavor.”

Interestingly, many children predicted their careers would involve computers and envisioned a society in which “computers and computerized robots will run or do everything.”

Others were concerned about safety in this century.

One child wrote if kidnapping still was a problem in 2001, he would not let his children outside alone.

Another foresaw “no more nukes or Olympics,” and several predicted they still would continue to enjoy their current hobbies.

The 2001 time barrel was part of the Adopt Bangor Program conceived by Gerry Bryan, then a fifth-grade teacher at Downeast School and now a resident of Brooklin.

The idea was for the barrel to contain predictions and wishes for the city’s future and descriptions of life in Bangor in 1984.

A joint project of the Bangor School Department and the Bangor Historical Society, the authentic wooden barrel was placed in the custody of the BHS, to be opened this year.

The public is invited to attend “The 1984 Time Barrel Opening” at 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 11, at the Thomas A. Hill Historic House and Civil War Museum, 159 Union St. in Bangor.

Anette Rodriguez of Bangor, the BHS curator in 1984, is heading up the BHS time barrel committee.

Rodriguez said invitations have been sent to all Bangor school principals “to share with their students.

“We hope that this is the beginning of a yearlong collection of new ideas that will go into the time barrel before we close it at the end of the year,” Rodriguez said.

Once the time barrel is resealed, it will not be opened until 2021.

Having worked at the museum when the barrel initially was sealed, Rodriguez is eagerly looking forward to its opening.

“I catalogued material that was created in the schools,” some of which made it into the barrel; some of which did not, she said.

“On top of the barrel was a sealed envelope containing suggestions of envisioned ways to improve Bangor while taking advantage of, and preserving, its best attributes,” Rodriguez said.

“A copy of these recommendations is in the time barrel, sealed with a paper gold seal.

“I remember we talked about the riverfront, at that time, and now we are doing something about it.

“I’m pretty excited about this,” she said of the time barrel opening celebration.

“The children’s Maine Discovery Museum is also opening that day, so it’s going to be quite an exciting day for the city of Bangor.”

For more information about the time barrel opening, call the BHS at 942-5766.

Members of the University of Maine’s LETS Volunteer Alternative Spring Break Program will be conducting a bottle drive beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 10.

The students, who will travel to four sites to assist young people in need during their break from college studies, will be knocking on doors, asking for returnables, in Bangor, Orono and Old Town.

Funds raised will help finance the students’ trips. If enough money is raised, it will enable them to make a financial contribution to the programs they will be assisting in Michigan, South Carolina, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

Bottles also may be left at any time at Skeeter’s on Stillwater Avenue in Old Town, where a special container has been set aside for the Alternative Spring Break Program.

Donations also can be made out to LVASBP and mailed to program coordinator Muffy Eastman, 5703 Alumni Hall, Orono 04469-5704.

You also can call Eastman at 581-4194 and offer to “adopt a spring breaker.”

On behalf of the Guilford United Methodist Women, Sharon O’Connell invites the public to attend its annual Valentine tea from 2 to 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 10, at the GUMC Fellowship Hall.

Music by the Junior Choir will include a few selections with the bells.

All donations will be used to help GUMC’s young people attend Camp Mechuwana in Winthrop next

summer.

For more information about the tea, call the church office at 876-3372.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.