By LINDA CHION KENNEY
Melissa Langlois remembers the build-up, anticipation and eventual unveiling of time capsule contents for display at the Riverview Public Library this month, where one item in particular caught her attention.
It was gathered among the documents, photographs and news articles nestled in the PVC time capsule cylinder, in which items planted in 2000 — and before that, in 1976 — were revealed for display.
“Look at that Sears catalogue. How long has it been since you saw a catalogue like that,” Langlois said, about the object that caught her fancy. “It takes me back to when I was little and my grandma had the Sears [Roebuck] Catalogue at her house, and she’d give it to me to make my Christmas gift list. You just don’t see those anymore.”
Indeed, there were lots of things not seen anymore, nestled among the news clippings, photographs, brochures, maps, advertisements, handwritten historical accounts and other time capsule items, on display July 17 in the library’s James B. “Jim” Johnson Community Room.
The land presentation ceremony for the old Riverview library on Riverview Drive took place on land that was donated by Gardiner Inc., U.S. Phosphoric Products.
Johnson himself was an event speaker, who recounted the library’s opening, in 2021, to replace the library at 10509 Riverview Drive. That building now is home to the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) food pantry and resource center.
Working on the new library’s construction “was oftentimes a lot of work, and sometimes it went with great ease,” Johnson said, noting the two electrical fires that delayed the grand opening in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. “But we opened up with big hearts and big rooms and a lot of square footage.” To wit, the old library had 8,000 square feet, Johnson said, “and this one opened with 35,000 square feet.”
In describing the contents of the time capsule, official notice was given to “items kept originally in a softbound folder, which was placed in a time capsule by the Riverview Library Association and the Riverview Woman’s Club as part of the country’s bicentennial celebration in 1976.”
According to the report, when the capsule was opened on March 19, 2000, the contents of the folder were so well-received that library association members decided to place them in a permanent binder and not re-bury them in the time capsule.
This is in keeping with Johnson’s thinking today, that it might be time to retire the round piece of pipe that was used for other time capsule items, “because if we have more additions to the contents, you can only put so much in that little pipe.” Instead, “we may wind up with securing a closet or a chest of some kind that can be locked,” he added, “as we don’t want to lose anything” from the time capsule contents collected in 1976 and in 2000.
This pet rock was on display July 17 for the time capsule viewing.
Among those items was a pet rock, nestled in its cardboard box with air holes and straw bedding, a nod to the pet rock craze in 1975 that captivated millions of people nationwide. Marketed by advertising executive Gary Dahl, who quickly became a millionaire, these ordinary stones were presented as low-maintenance pets requiring no feeding or grooming. Priced at $3.95, pet rock sales reportedly exceeded 1.5 million units within months.
According to a time capsule news report, the capsule was first opened March 19, 2000, “revealing a little glimpse of daily life in the early ’70s.” At the time, Riverview branch librarian Julie Beamguard was duly noted for showing patrons the display, “a collection of three notebooks in the library’s history section.”
Included in the books were handwritten essays by elementary school students, about what it meant to be an American; a 13-cent stamp, the cost of mailing a first-class letter; advertisements for the hairstyles and dress of the time; and ads that reflect just how much prices have changed. To wit, the 40,000-mile tire that cost $48 and the canopy bed frame that cost $19.49.
Other items on display included a picture showcasing the “future site” of the original Riverview public library, on an acre of land donated to the county by Gardinier Inc. U.S. Phosphoric Products. The 25-member Riverview Library Association, headed by board member Bill McMullen, reportedly raised around $2,000 for books and supplies through “book sales, a horse show and other fundraising activities.”
A self-described “book dragon,” Langlois said her volunteerism with Friends of the Riverview Public Library started when she helped organize and run book sales in the old library. That work continues today, in her leadership role as president, which started more than three years ago when the former president, Gretchen Delsavio, moved to Ohio. The room used to collect and showcase books is named in her honor, as Langlois said Delsavio “was a big advocate in getting this building built and for the features it should have.”
Linda Chion Kenney photos
Jim Johnson, center, holds the scissors for the time capsule viewing July 17 at the Riverview Public Library.
At the ceremony, which included a proclamation read by Tammy See, on behalf of the Central Hillsborough County Chamber of Commerce, formerly known as the Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce, attendees were able to view the time capsule’s 1976 bicentennial news reports. It served as a foreshadowing for next year’s 2026 celebrations, set to mark the nation’s quarter millennium, or semiquincentennial.
“Look at the big celebration they did back in 1976,” Langlois said, for the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. “I was young, so I don’t remember any of that kind of stuff, but it seemed like the whole nation did a big celebration that year, celebrating such a milestone for our nation.”