A handbell, a notebook, and two capsule questions

For the school’s 75th anniversary in 1987, principal Kyle Creasy temporarily stopped the electric bell and rang a 1909 handbell from his great-aunt. Alumni and current pupils celebrated with memories and refreshments. The June 5 newspaper account explicitly dates the school’s opening to 1912.

The same report describes a notebook made by the 1939 third-grade class, covering Ashland, downtown and the schools—especially Pleasant Street. Creasy brought it through classrooms during the anniversary. That establishes a fascinating artifact lead as of 1987. Its location today has not been verified.

Pupils prepared a time capsule intended to be opened 25 years later. The reported contents included writing about the school’s future, a roster, an all-school photograph, a video and memorabilia. An intended opening date is not evidence that an opening happened.

An August 2021 Times-Gazette follow-up reports that former classmates did not find the capsule they sought. That reporting refers to a capsule dated 1991. The available evidence does not establish that it was the same capsule described in 1987. There may have been separate capsules, or a date discrepancy; that remains a question, not a combined fact.

Neither capsule is claimed as recovered here. The notebook, anniversary reporting and former pupils’ memories offer separate trails to follow. The interesting part is not a promised treasure: it is what a school chose to preserve, and how carefully the next generation reads the record.