City fills time capsule with items from Hoover City Schools for 50^th anniversary

By Heather Jones Skaggs

Photographs by Dawn Harrison

The City of Hoover kicked off its yearlong 50th anniversary celebration at Celebrate Hoover Day on April 30 at Veterans Park. Throughout the year, the city will be featuring videos across its social media platforms from longtime residents, new residents and others from the city showcasing how the city is “Building Community Together,” the slogan for the 50th anniversary. Along with other events, the city is also using the anniversary to leave a legacy for future residents of Hoover.

Celebrating the city’s 50^th anniversary is a significant opportunity to preserve memories from today for future residents of Hoover tomorrow with this time capsule.

“On the day of the city’s incorporation, May 18, we placed a time capsule at City Hall that contains items contributed by students from each of the Hoover City Schools,” says Hoover Mayor Frank V. Brocato. “This will preserve the history of this special anniversary for years to come.”

To prepare for the ceremony, Brocato traveled to each school in Hoover throughout February, collecting items to be placed in the capsule. Many students selected T-shirts with their school’s mascot or logo, yearbooks and photographs.

Greystone Elementary School included a banner signed by all the students, faculty and staff, and Riverchase Elementary donated an item made on a 3D printer. Several donations caught the mayor’s attention.

“It was exciting to visit each of the schools and receive the items they collected to include in the time capsule,” Brocato says. “A couple of unique items we received are a commissioned art piece from Berry Middle School and a wooden cube with laser graphics from Bumpus Middle School. The artwork is a pencil sketch by Lydia Faris, a seventh grader at Berry. The wooden cube from Bumpus included school and city logos, mottos and images. Both were very creative.”

Items being preserved in the capsule are primarily from the city schools. Schools play an integral part in any city, especially a city as dynamic as Hoover says Jason Gaston, coordinator of public relations for Hoover City Schools.

“We are very proud to be a part of our city’s history through the time capsule project and hope the artifacts that our students provided will be viewed with great interest when unearthed in 50 years,” Gaston says.

Other items included in the capsule were donated by the Hoover Historical Society, Hoover Chamber of Commerce and the City of Hoover. The items include an 8-by-10 photograph of city founder William Hoover, a copy of the Hoover Historical Society newsletter, a package of notecard drawings by the late founder of the Hoover Historical Society, Vadie Honea, and other various photos, anniversary magnets and decals.

“All the items will be placed in the capsule with an ample supply of acid-free envelopes and plastic bags suitable for preserving the items,” says Pam Thompson, vice president of membership for the Hoover Historical Society.

The Society helped sort and organize the items collected and donated more items to go into the capsule.

The capsule project is unique for Hoover. No time capsule from the early days of Hoover could be confirmed or found, so the 50th anniversary capsule preserves the past and the present for the future residents of Hoover.

The stainless steel capsule will rest in the wall at City Hall until a time when future citizens will be celebrating Hoover’s 100th anniversary.

What will they learn and discover from their predecessors?

“When the time capsule is opened in 50 years and the items are viewed, I hope the citizens will see that Hoover was a diverse city with a rich history that began with only 406 brave individuals in 1967 and grew to the sixth largest city in Alabama with 90,000 residents in just 50 years,” Brocato says. “As we celebrate 50 years and where we are today, I hope over the next 50 years people will see that we continue to build on what makes our city great today – which includes: outstanding city services, an excellent school system, low crime rates, affordable housing and a variety of activities and programs that enhances the quality of life here.”

Below is a list of items, as of early May, collected and placed in the capsule.

City of Hoover & Hoover Historical Society:

• 50^th anniversary magnets and decals
• Celebrate Hoover Day – 50^th Anniversary Celebration poster & bookmark
• Top 30 magnet
• Photograph of William Hoover
• Hoover Historical Society notecard set
• Hoover Historical Society Spring 2017 newsletter
• History of Hoover book – first 25 years “A History of Hoover, Alabama and Its People” by Marilyn Davis Barefield
• Hoover Sun newspaper – May 2017
• Hoover Sun 50^th anniversary special edition magazine
• Various photographs
• Copies of the books “Images of America Hoover” and Images of “Modern America Riverchase” by Heather Jones Skaggs

Berry Middle School:

• Commissioned artwork by 7^th grade student – Lydia Faris
• Show Your Berry P.R.I.D.E. listing
• PRIDE lapel pin

Bluff Park Elementary School:

• School magnet
• Copy of the book “Images of America Bluff Park” by Heather Jones Skaggs

Brock’s Gap Intermediate School:

• School t-shirt
• Two framed photographs of school name being installed on building

Bumpus Middle School:

• Laser engraved cube with school logos
• School quick fact cards

Deer Valley Elementary School:

• School t-shirt
• Yearbook

Green Valley Elementary School:

• Vintage school pennant flag
• School t-shirt
• Green school shaker
• October 12 event program

Greystone Elementary School:

• Large banner signed by all students and teachers

Gwin Elementary School:

• Yearbook
• Framed school mission statement
• Figurine of school mascot

Hoover High School:

• Yearbook
• Logoed Yeti cup

Riverchase Elementary school:

• School t-shirt
• Staff listing
• Student listing
• Item created on 3D printer

Rocky Ridge Elementary School:

• School t-shirt
• School photograph
• School vision, belief and mission statements

Shades Mountain Elementary School:

• History of school
• Rendering of remodeled school

Simmons Middle School:

• School t-shirt
• Yearbook

South Shades Crest Elementary School:

• School magnet
• School newsletter – February 28, 2017
• Photograph of entire student body

Spain Park High School:

• Yearbook
• Baseball cap

Trace Crossings Elementary School:

• Yearbook
• School t-shirt
• School fact sheet