State House Time Capsule to Receive Extravagant, Masonic Ceremony
Gated House by Cris Pierry on Flickr/Creative Commons
Update: June 17, 8:30 a.m.
State House News Service confirms the National Guard will indeed provide cannonfire for today’s ceremony.
Previously:
The 220-year-old time capsule placed under State House by Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and William Scollay in 1795 and unearthed last December will return from whence it came next Wednesday, but not without a little celebration.
State House News Service reports the state is pulling out all the stops for the third burial of what is believed to be the oldest time capsule in America. Assistant Secretary of the Commonwealth Michael Maresco is planning the fête, which will closely resemble similar ceremonies held in 1795 and 1855. A brewer wagon drawn by Clydesdales will carry a replica cornerstone up Park Street to the State House, where 400 schoolchildren, a colonial fife and drum group, the Northeast Italian Band, and the 215th Army Band Vocal Quartet will await its arrival.
Gov. Charlie Baker and Secretary William Galvin will speak on the steps of the State House, flanked by Members of the Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company. Harvey Waugh, Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts, will then perform a “traditional Masonic cornerstone ceremony,” while the folks at Walsh Construction will do the actual masonry.
Along with its original contents, the time capsule will include relics, to be announced at the ceremony. Cannonfire courtesy of the National Guard is still possibility but not yet confirmed, organizers told SHNS.
