1990 Time Capsule: Cracking open a can of time

 By Anna Lionas |

A big cheer rippled through the room when a set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures were pulled out and held in the air for the crowd to see. After 35 years the time capsule gave up its secrets.
Last Thursday at an event organized by the Kegoayah Kozga Library the time capsule created during the 1990 Summer Reading Program was opened. The contents were finally revealed before a captive audience of Nomeites of all ages.
Back in 1990, the summer reading program was in full swing with over 60 students participating that year under the theme “Traveling through time.” The program was capped off with a big event for participants and their families who were instructed to bring in an item to be preserved.
“We put it all in this very authentic time capsule that I bought through a catalog,” said Dee McKenna who served as the library director from 1979 to 1997. She now lives in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Into the large metal cylinder went pencils, an edition of The Nome Nugget, a weather report by Rick Thoman, a book written and signed by Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the Iditarod, various magazines, dollar bills, a check, cassette tapes and buttons.
The tube was packed full and sealed up with nitrogen by Bering Air’s Tony Matson, to be opened in the year 2020, which seemed like an impossibly futuristic date then.
For many years the capsule was suspended in time and in the air; it hung in the entrance of the old library/museum building on Front Street, counting down the days till the future.
Thirty years came and went but unbeknownst to McKenna and her assistant Joe Davis, they picked the year that a global pandemic would hit, pushing back the opening day.
It was a few years later when Library Director Marguerite LaRiviere decided to go looking for it that it was realized the capsule was lost. Somewhere during the shuffle to move to the Richard Foster building the capsule was placed into the Public Works Building, which suffered a fire in 2023. It survived the fire and then went on a “tour” through all the City of Nome connexes around town. 
But with the urging of LaRiviere and Museum Director Cheryl Thompson, Public Works Director Cole Cushman found the capsule tucked away in storage.
The Grand Opening
Tables lined the walls in the Richard Foster building, covered in a shimmering holographic material which boasted atop them temporary tattoos and 90s themed items: boom boxes, Gameboys, skateboards, troll dolls.
People wrote their predictions of the capsule contents down on paper and slipped them into a colorful box. Kids filed in, giddy to see what the past had to offer.
Pizza and mingling and guitar music from Joel Bachelder occupied the crowd as the walls were pulled back for more chairs to be set up.
Bachelder was an elementary school teacher in Nome in 1990 and he said he remembers the excitement around the capsule being put together bubbling through his students. He traveled from Anchorage to be in Nome for its opening.
State Senator Löki Tobin was in the audience, as was Representative Neal Foster; both had memories of time spent at the old library.
Mayor John Handeland, who was also mayor in 1990, kicked off the event. Thirty-five years ago, Handeland hosted a special luncheon for students who read over 40 books during the summer reading program, some of which were in attendance.
“We had planned to do this in 2020 and now it’s 2025 but better late than never,” Handeland said.
McKenna and Davis were introduced and said a few words, but sensing the crowd’s anticipation McKenna said “I don’t need to say anymore. I think we should get the show rolling. I am so anxious to see what’s in there!”
City Manager Lee Smith tugged and tugged and with a harumph, 35-year-old air was introduced to the room. The crowd cheered.
As former summer reading program kids Joe and RieAnn Fullwood were selected to pull items out of the capsule and hold them up for everyone to see.
“Sure been a long time waiting for this thing to open up,” Joe said. “It sat over the stairs of the library on your way in throughout our whole youth.”
“I think he said he was counting down the days,” RieAnn said.
The siblings had a captive audience as they reached their arms deep into the past, pulling out letters, maps and doodles of future predictions.
A large group of kids wiggled in the front of the room, shouting out if they saw something of interest.
Out came books, bookmarks, pencils, sugar packets, RieAnn’s toddler sized swimsuit, action figures, a press pass from the late Nugget reporter Sandra Medearis and lots of Russian ephemera.
One year prior to the time capsule, Joe Davis’ son Arlo participated in a visit to Provideniya with his Boy Scout troop, the Young Soviet Pioneers. Many of the Russian magazines and postcards, and a red Pioneers scarf came from that trip.
As the event went on, the pile of stuff on the table up front grew larger. A video recording of a Nome theater production of Heidi, two spiderman action figures, a lock of horsehair and a weather forecast from August 29, 1990.
“This afternoon, mostly cloudy, nothing more than a sprinkle, southwest wind, 10 miles per hour, high in the mid 50s. Tonight, mostly cloudy. Wind becoming east to 15 miles per hour. Low in the upper 40s,” the forecast read.
The unveiling wound down and people meandered up to the front to look through the items from decades past. Mayor Handeland thanked everyone but especially McKenna and Davis for coming.
LaRiviere handed out tickets for a free scoop at Scoop 907 to people on their way out.
The items once frozen in time will be shown at the museum. LaRiviere said she’s working to get them ready to be on display and will notify the public when it’s time.