UNION – In preparation for Union’s Sestercentennial celebration, July 19 – 21, 2024, the organizing committee searched high and low for pictures from the 1974 bicentennial that they knew existed.

Turns out, they were very well hidden.

Union celebrated the opening ceremony on Friday, July 19, by unveiling the contents of a time capsule from the bicentennial, 50 years ago, previously unearthed from the common.

During this 250th anniversary, at least 20 audience members raised their hands to indicate that they’d attended the 1974 event, also on July 19. Bits of stories bantered around, such as how some of the 1974 time capsule treasures were added merely because a committee member had cleaned off his dashboard (Sherman Hilt). Some recalled what their parents had remembered, and others announced outright that certain items were expected to be found during the reveal. Tracy Weed, who emceed, spoke with disappointment of how the sestercentennial committee couldn’t create a display around the 1974 pictures. No matter where they looked, the pictures never appeared...until, removing the lid of the time capsule (a vault of a child’s coffin built in town by the Thurston Bros. Casket factory), and beginning the process of showing and announcing each item, a stack of photographs in a small clear plastic bag entered Weed’s hands.

So too, did a set of measuring spoons, because one resident believed that the United States would convert to metric. The results of the 1974 bicentennial rafting race came out of the box, though several people in the audience were quick to announce the winners before names were read from the score sheet. Lots of matches in the capsule left some scratching their heads. An Associated Grocers flier (a 2-lb box of skinless franks, $1.49). A Maine map (have the state’s roads changed much?), an LP record added by someone who, minutes prior to its reveal, asked if it was in the capsule, a cassette tape of the Clarry Hill Band, and a newspaper that announced the upcoming bicentennial.

Oh, and a small wooden hand-held blueberry rake. Not a blueberry cake, as a listing of items led some to believe.

For some, the “cake” would be the bankbook and adjoining letter from the 1974 Select Board to the 2024 Select Board, announcing a bank account with a $100 jumpstart, and the hope that the money has accrued over time. (The Town is still investigating whether the account can still be opened after being dormant for 50 years.)

Many others might enjoy seeing the names of bygone companies and deeply rooted family names, as well as the empty glass bottles that represented the time before single-serve toss-ables.

And, other items: letters, paperwork, mementos also came from the box; all damp. First it was thought that condensation had generated over time. Then, a bottle appeared that still had some fluid in it. No one will know what the actual cause was.

What hasn’t disintegrated will be displayed on Saturday and Sunday. Committee members hope that residents will not only enjoy the blast from the past, but also think ahead to what ought to be added to the next time capsule, to be buried during the closing ceremony on Sunday.

Twenty-three months ago, planning for the sestercentennial began. A town committee of 10 members sprouted, with the additional assistance of 9 members of the historical society. They began with a goal of creating a celebration that “we will all remember,” said Weed. Then they created the celebration’s theme: “looking back to look ahead.”

What makes Union special, according to Select Board Chair Adam Fuller, isn’t just the lakes, hills, fields, farmhouses.

“What makes Union special, and I am sure of this after my time on the Select Board, is the community that we have here,” said Fuller. “It’s the longterm families. It’s the welcoming to outsiders coming in. And it’s what makes Union a special place, and I am as sure of that today as I’ve ever been in my entire life.”

Bill Pluecker talked about sending his children off into the world after raising them in Union. His son who just graduated high school knows where he is from. He knows that he is from this community. He takes his hometown with him wherever he goes.

“I always hope that when they leave, they always come back at the end of the day,” he said. “But it’s so gratifying to know that there’s 250 years of history behind that kind of education, that kind of sense of knowing of who you are.”

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com