Mementos sought for White Lake's new time capsule

White Lake Township Library Director Larry Ostrowski has been busy driving up and down the M-59 corridor looking to collect and preserve a bit history from White Lake businesses for the township’s time capsule.

“I think it might be interesting for future generations to see how things have changed in the area,” Ostrowski said.

The time capsule — set to be buried for 50 years — is to commemorate the 175th anniversary of White Lake’s founding, a milestone that took place in 2011.

Trustee Carol Burkard, who helped get the project rolling, has also been busy collecting items for the capsule ranging from letters by current members of the township Board of Trustees and the fire and police chiefs to local restaurant menus and information about gas prices.

“I even bought some cut-outs of the Obama family and of the royal wedding that took place in 2011,” Burkard said. “I thought that would be of interest as it was a big event. We collected some newspaper headlines from 2011, such as when (Osama) bin Laden was killed. We’re trying to do a representation of what happened during the year.”

Ostrowski also collected 2011 end-of-the-year editions of magazines such as People to include in the capsule.

Also included in the time capsule will be township documents such as the master plan representing what the township looks like now and plans for the future, as well as books representing the history of White Lake.

Residents are also encouraged to stop by the library and sign the township book and/or drop off items for the time capsule.

“We’ve filled it up once already and have had to add pages to it,” Ostrowski said of the book to be included in the capsule. “We have 300 or 400 signatures and addresses. We are looking for items germane to White Lake in 2011 such as the (Huron Valley) Lakeland (High School) yearbook and flyers from events like Quake on the Lake. We would hate to (miss including) something worthwhile that should be included.”

Items will be collected up until the Fisk Farm Festival, which is held on the weekend after Labor Day.

The capsule will eventually be buried near the flag pole at the White Lake Cemetery at McKeatchie and White Lake roads, at a date yet to be determined by the White Lake Historical Society.