It was the classic “what goes up must come down” story, with a twist. More like what is sealed will be unsealed.

Powell Middle School Principal Kyle Rohrer has had a chunk of concrete containing a 1939 time capsule kicking around in the school for quite a while. It was from the time of the construction of the old middle school, and after a few years, Rohrer decided it was probably time to do something about it.

He gathered some residents who had connections to the time capsule: Jason Sleep, who was an eighth grader when a 1984 time capsule was created and who later served as principal at the school; George Ribble who was the middle school principal when the time capsule was placed; and a cadre of students who couldn’t wait to see the contents of the capsule.

There was some confusion about the capsule itself. Sleep thought maybe there were two inside the block of concrete, in spite of it bearing the year 1939. He knew there was another from 1984 when a remodel and reconstruction was done. Ribble knew the 1939 block had been relocated at least once.

“It’s been moved a couple of times,” he said from his seat near the old block.

Sleep stepped up and applied a yellow-handled sledge hammer to the block, careful to avoid the inscribed front. The copper box inside soon appeared, but it was loathe to give up its long-held nest.

Mike Giese from the school had to bring multiple other tools to free the box from the block.

That was only the beginning of the battle, though. The top of the copper box had caved in and was difficult to open.

“It’s kinda beat up; it looks like somebody hit it with a sledge hammer,” Sleep quipped.

While Giese worked to open the box, finally using a screwdriver to punch a hole and peel back the top, the students guessed among themselves what it might hold.

“It has VCR tapes,” said one. “Aliens,” laughed another.

“It’s books,” guessed a third. “That would be totally awesome.”

Another student suggested the contents, whatever they were, should be housed in a museum, while yet another said it was like being part of a real-life movie.

“This is just like ‘National Treasure,’” he suggested.

When the contents finally came to light, they included photos of the original school west of the current building and a list of officers and photos of the Abasroka Lodge of the Masonic Temple. The Masons, someone explained, had a hand in setting the cornerstone that contained the time capsule.

Other items that were in the box were a King James version of the Bible, a list of grade school students, great northern bean seeds from Big Horn Co-op, wheat seed and a pinkish bag of sugar from Great Western.

A slightly faded mimeographed study packet for sixth graders was tucked inside, as was a school district roster of all the students and teachers from 1938 and 1939. There was a student handbook from 1939 and a list of all the sports teams at Powell High School and their record holders. There were a few cotton bolls, in very good shape and a Powell Tribune dated April 20, 1939.

The items were gathered up to be placed in the school display case so that all students could see them. They may later be displayed at a museum, but opening this time capsule has created another mystery: What has become of the 1984 version? Was it preserved and included in the reconstruction/remodel, or has it disappeared into the vacuum of time, destroyed when part of the school came down?

Only time will tell.