The Brentwood Morning Rotary Club and city officials recently had a tangible brush with the past, as they unearthed a time capsule that had been resting near the John P. Holt Brentwood Library for a quarter of a century. The Brentwood community gathered this past Sunday to witness the opening of the Millennium Time Capsule, which was buried back in 2000, and had waited silently to reveal its contents to a new generation.
The capsule’s opening drew locals and former leaders alike, with Brentwood Mayor Nelson Andrews leading the endeavor. "When we buried this, the year 2025 seemed a lifetime away," Teresa Beard, a past president of the Brentwood Morning Rotary, reflected on the aspirations of those who had filled the capsule, according to an announcement from the City of Brentwood.
The contents of the time capsule offered an eclectic snapshot of the turn of the millennium – photo albums, a Brentwood 2020 Plan, insignia from the local police and fire departments, and pop-culture artifacts such as a bygone TV Guide and a People Magazine feature spotlighting then-celebrity couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. The Brentwood Journal from April 13, 2000, was also enclosed, detailing the planned $3.35 million intersection improvements of the time.
Edutainment relics, including an essay by Woodland Middle School student Dylan Williams describing a routine school day watching Channel 1, were among the items. "I hang out in the halls for a while and talk to my friends," Williams wrote in an essay featured in the capsule. "When the one-minute bell rings that sounds like a phone, I go to my class. A minute later, the late bell rings and we watch Channel 1. Channel 1 is just like the news," Williams told the Brentwood Morning Rotary Club.
Nearly all items were impacted by time's inevitable mark, exhibiting a dampness and musty odor, as several floods over the years, including the significant 2010 flood, had affected the area. Despite these challenges, the Rotary Club plans to dry and display these objects, offering a glimpse back to life in Brentwood circa 2000. Preston Bain, vice chair of the Brentwood Planning Commission, compared the technological landscape of then and now, noting, "We were still using floppy disks," recalling the era predating the smartphone revolution and highlighting the city's growth from 26,000 residents in 2000 to over 46,000 today in a speech during the ceremony.
The Brentwood Morning Rotary Club is now looking forward to sharing these preserved notes and artifacts from the dawn of the millennium with the community in a forthcoming exhibition, as symbols of collective memory and communal history.
