No lost and found for time capsule

It was almost 50 years ago that some of the first students to grace the halls of Beaconsfield High School buried a time capsule containing artifacts and souvenirs of the time. The idea was to open it during the school's 50th anniversary. However, with celebrations set for this fall, reunion organizers are having difficulty pinpointing where it is.

The best bit of information, offered by former principal Dick McGrail, was that it was buried somewhere near the inscription plaque at the now former front-door entrance at BHS, said Wayne Clifford, a reunion organizer and a former guidance counsellor who worked at the school for 25 years.

Bill Stockwell, a member of the first graduating class in '61, hopes fellow BHS baby boomers will "tune in, turn on, drop by" and come up with a solution to their missing time capsule. Stockwell, a longtime school board employee, admitted he didn't participate while a high school student in the time capsule effort as he spent much of his extra-curricular time in a pool hall in Pointe Claire Village. "We really don't know where it is," said Stockwell, a reunion organizer who did grades 9 to 11 at BHS after two years at John Rennie High School. "It was probably buried near the original entrance, before they made a court yard. So it might have been buried over or moved."

Speaking of the court yard, the BHS alumni association committee wants to rejuvenate it in time for the reunion weekend, Clifford said, adding plans have yet to be finalized.

With just a few months left before the Oct. 10-12 reunion weekend, Clifford admits the time capsule might remain a lost treasure. With or without the time capsule, the reunion will go on as planned. "Since it's the big 50th reunion, we expect over 2,000 people to show up," he said.

A number of well-known BHS alumni are expected to attend, from former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray to Stephen Toope, vice-chancellor of the University of British Columbia. Astronaut Dave Williams, a BHS grad, is expected to make a presentation about his adventures in space during the evening event on Oct. 11.

For more information on the reunion, check beaconsfieldhighschool.ca or e-mail wstockwell@sympatico.ca.