By Bob Bumcrot

Burying the Time Capsule: 7th-grader Meredith Torey hope to dig it up again in 50 years.

On a sun-drenched October 12, in the closing acts celebrating Norfolk’s semiquincentennial, a time capsule was buried near the Revolutionary War monument and stone markers were placed both there and at the site of the Brown house. There are no visible remains of the house itself, which predates by eight years the official founding of Norfolk. A bronze plaque that was attached to a large rock in 1958 marks the site. The inscription reads, “On this site in 1744 Cornelius Brown built the first house in Norfolk. Commemorated by the bicentennial committee of Norfolk.” The stone, carved by John Bascetta, was placed on the recently-cleared site at 2 p.m. It reads, “On October 9th, 2008, the Town’s fellowship returned to this, Norfolk’s first house site, established 1744.” Attendance at the installation on the newly cleared site a few hundred yards off Greenwoods Road West was restricted, due to concern over the theft of bronze plaques in recent decades. “I know a road in the area that used to be marked with about 20 [plaques],” said Selectmen Jim Stotler. “Now there are only three or four.” Attendance at this event was further reduced by an emergency call to a serious motorcycle accident near the town center. The 4 p.m. ceremonies accompanying the time capsule drew a crowd of at least 50. The capsule, an 18-inch cylinder of heavy black plastic, contains about 130 items, mostly chosen by last year’s sixth grade classes at Botelle School under the direction of Richard Byrne. Among the contributions are: a first-generation i-pod (with battery removed to prevent corrosion) from Colin Bazzano, a scroll signed by all the Botelle students, a map of Norfolk from Thalyia Byrne, signed T-shirts for each sixth grade class, a recording of songs written by the students at a music workshop, a sheet with the signed footprints of all the girl scouts from Amelia Denny, $1 in “funny money” given to reward outstanding achievement from Kaelin Hester, “something, I don’t remember what,” from Douglas Hervieux, and an empty Pepsi can. Richard Byrne said that a complete record of capsule contents would be filed in the Selectman’s Office in Town Hall. He then sealed the capsule’s screw top lid with mallet blows before lowering it into the pit. The crowd sang a hearty Happy Birthday to Norfolk and took turns shoveling soil to fill the four-foot hole, with time off for large pieces of a birthday cake decorated with the Town Seal. The burial site, near the Revolutionary War monument between Buttermilk Falls and Route 44, was topped by another stone carved by John Bascetta, reading, “Time Capsule Created June 2008 By Botelle School 6th Grade To Be Opened 50 Years Hence.” Several participating students, now seventh graders, expressed a determination to attend the tercentennial in 2058 to recover what they had placed in the capsule. “I’ll have to come back from Hawaii–or possibly Florida,” said one, “but I’ll do it.”