The Tuckahoe Time Capsule

A time capsule is an historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people and to help future archaeologists, or historians. Time capsules are sometimes created and buried during celebrations such as a World’s Fair, the cornerstone laying for a public building or at other events. We now have the opportunity to prepare a Tuckahoe Time Capsule to leave a legacy of Tuckahoe Lodge items and information to future members of the Craft.

At the July Stated Communication our Junior Deacon, Bro. Chris Geary, introduced a special project that all members of the Lodge are invited to take part in. Chris’s vision was to prepare a ‘time capsule’ device in which members may place personal and Masonic mementos (written letters, photos, electronic information on CD’s or thumb drives, medals, jewels, and other Masonic memorabilia) relating to this time in Tuckahoe’s history.

Bro. Geary spent several months, painstakingly hand-crafting and finishing the capsule. It is beautifully fashioned of red oak, lined with white lambskin, and weighs in at 28 pounds. The outside of the device is adorned on one side with the working tools of Freemasonry, on the other side is a trowel. The capsule is dark-stain finished and includes a cable-tow as the main sealing device near the top. The workmanship exhibited on this capsule is of outstanding quality.

Members are asked to prepare items they wish to place in the capsule, along with detailed information about the items included, and who provided them. Bring the items to a Stated or called communication, and give them to Bro. Chris or any Lodge officer. The items will be safely stored until the capsule is ready to be packed and sealed.

Following the December 2013 Stated Communication the capsule will be loaded with the documents and items Chris has received, then sealed and placed within the Lodge with strict instructions to future Masons that the capsule is to be properly protected and cared for, and is to remain sealed until the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Tuckahoe Lodge on February 14, 2048.