Finger Lakes Community College opened a time capsule on Friday, May 5, that had been sealed in 2012, the year the Student Center opened and the central part of the main building was gutted for renovations.
In fact, a piece of the ribbon from the Student Center ribbon-cutting in May 2012 was in the capsule.
Trista Merrill, professor of humanities and director of the honors program, suggested the time capsule due to the extensive construction under way and the recent completion of the 2012 Middle States re-accreditation process. Read the letter she put in the capsule here.
A decision was made to store the capsule in plain sight in the One Stop Center to avoid misplacing it. (There are rumors of an earlier capsule but no records on where it might be.) Steve Varney ’77, a carpenter with Facilities and Grounds, built it to look like a wine barrel.
The capsule contained an assortment of photos, documents, two bottles of wine, FLCC swag and some predictions.
Paul Brock, instructor of viticulture and wine technology at the time and now retired, correctly predicted in 2012 that the women’s U.S. soccer team would win the World Cup again before 2022. (They won twice – in 2015 and 2019). His prediction of five World Series wins for the Yankees in that 10-year period may have been a bit unrealistic …
Unfortunately for Colleen Aiezza, Geneva Campus Center specialist at the time and now retired, the Buffalo Bills did not win a Super Bowl before the capsule was opened.
The wine bottles were among FLCC first vintages, the first label was appropriately called “First Class.”
Photos from the capsule show how much FLCC sites have changed. One shows an empty field where the Viticulture and Wine Center was to be built. Another shows the gutted former cafeteria, which is now a music recording studio.
2012 was also the year the old main entrance sign was removed.
After the opening, items from the capsule were placed in a display case in the main campus atrium so visitors could get a glimpse of how much can change – or stay the same – over 11 years. Why 11? The intent was an opening in 2022 but COVID delayed the process.
Those who attended the opening were invited to write down their predictions for the next 10 years, to be placed back in the capsule to be sealed later this year and opened in 2033.
