OCEAN CITY — It was like a journey back in time Jan. 2 when Mayor Jay Gillian and aide Michael Allegretto looked over the contents of a 26-year-old time capsule.
“When you open up a time capsule and you see 25 years go by as quick as they do, it really makes you look at yourself and think, ‘Wow, what could I have done differently or better?” Gillian said.
The contents of the metal box, which was about 1 foot square and 2 feet tall, were gathered in 1999 and placed in the box as part of the city’s (premature) millennium celebration, which also included installation of the four-sided clock on the boardwalk at Ninth Street.
It was filled with old newspapers — still the full width that old-timers remember — T-shirts from businesses such as Shriver’s and Johnson’s Popcorn, marketing materials, Ocean City Beach Patrol swag and early First Night ephemera, along with old photos donated by local families.
Gillian said the plan was to store the box beneath the clock but because of boardwalk maintenance and repairs, that was deemed untenable. Instead it was stored in the attic of City Hall, where the harsh elements couldn’t do any harm.
“We ended up just burying it here in the attic of City Hall,” Gillian said.
The mayor had to use a jigsaw to cut into the box after releasing its vacuum seal. He said he was surprised to find that it was just a single box made of sheet metal and that nothing had suffered from its time in the attic.
“I imagined it wouldn’t have held up very well. When I cut it open, I thought it was going to be a box in a box but it was all this stuff wrapped in paper and different things,” he said.
Gillian said the newspapers — copies of the Ocean City Sentinel, Press of Atlantic City and Courier Post — immediately caught his attention.
“The only thing that popped in my head is the good old days of newspapers,” he said. “It’s something that we don’t really have anymore, and I think it’s one of our biggest losses over the last 25 years is newspapers.”
Reminded that the Sentinel is still watching over the shores since 1880, he lamented the digital age and its “instant gratification” that uprooted an institution.
“It wasn’t just about information, but it was keeping communities together. It gave you something to look forward to,” he said. “Things change, and I always tell my kids to be prepared for the future.”
Allegretto said it was nice seeing the early First Night events list and program. While it had started in the early 1990s, it was just becoming really big as the calendar turned to 2000.
“It was cool looking at the event list, seeing some of the things we still do, some of the things that kind of dropped off,” he said
“A lot of the same traditions Ocean City has always stood for have continued. This is a testament to First Night and the Ocean City tradition,” Gillian added
The event, while borrowed from another community, was among the many introduced to the city by former publicist Mark Soifer, who died June 6, 2021, at 89 years old
“He was part of the first First Night and so many other things that make Ocean City so different. Mark’s fingerprints are going to be on here for a long time,” Gillian said. “His personality did attract so many unique people; you need uniqueness or you get stale.”
The mayor said most people think of time capsules being from before they were born but this one was just 26 years old.
“It was interesting to see what people thought was important to put in a time capsule. It was kind of cool looking at some of the old family pictures people included and the stories with them,” he said.
Allegretto, who oversees the Ocean City Pops Orchestra, said he was drawn to the Pops Christmas CD.
“I didn’t realize we even did that, so that was kind of cool to me,” he said.
Gillian said he would look into setting up a display of the items at the Ocean City Historical Museum and possibly creating another time capsule in two years to mark the 35th anniversary of First Night.
“Maybe another 25 years, they can open it back up,” he said. “But this time, we’ll bury it somewhere.”
– STORY and PHOTO by CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
