Peter Greer Elementary in Lake Country opens Y2K time capsule

Pokémon, Harry Potter, Beanie Babies and Y2K.

Students at Peter Greer Elementary School in Lake Country learned about pop culture from the turn of the 21st century when a time capsule filled by students and staff 25 years ago was opened during an assembly on Thursday.

The capsule was the brainchild of now-retired teacher librarian Bonnie Alguire. She was on hand to help two students turn the key that opened the box of mementos.

“I thought it would be a real fun project for the kids because there was such hype over the millennium and Y2K,” said Alguire.

“It just came to me, probably in November of 1999. Some other people were doing it and I had read about millennium time capsules. I thought, oh that would be really cool and lots of fun.”

Some of those in attendance included students from 1999, many whose children now go to the school.

Longtime teacher Cheryl Mazey, who first started working at Peter Greer Elementary when it opened in 1992, reminisced with colleague and former student Marissa Holt.

“Marissa was my star student back in Grade 6 in the year 2000, and I have had the pleasure of getting to teach your children as well,” said Mazey.

“We love having Marissa back on staff, not just as a student anymore.”

Among the items pulled from the hand-crafted wooden box were letters and drawings from children who are now in their 30s. A collection of Pokémon cards garnered the loudest oohs and aahs. They have seen a resurgence in popularity in the past few years.

The box was designed and built by a local carpenter.

"The janitor had to go up to the rafters to measure the space where the time capsule was going to go and where it would fit. Then he came back down with the measurements and then we gave the measurements to the carpenter and he came up with the time capsule,' explained Alguire.

Now planning is underway on the next time capsule that will be filled by current students and staff to be opened in 2050.