By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–What will the city of Helena look like in 2040 compared to 2018? Right now, that’s a tough question to answer, but those living in Helena 22 years from now will have a chance to see how much the town has changed thanks to a time capsule.

The Helena Historic Preservation Committee held a special time capsule ceremony at the Helena Museum on Friday, April 6, as several items unique to Helena were sealed and placed in a stainless-steel container to celebrate the city’s founding date.

In 2040, Helena will celebrate its 175^th Founders Day and the goal is for future city officials to open the time capsule to find items and artifacts of a bygone era from 2018 that depict what life was like during this time.

Some of the items donated for the time capsule included a Helena Reporter newspaper, a Helena High School diploma, a fidget spinner, a vape smoking device, a Buck Creek Festival T-shirt, an Alabama rail map, several photos depicting the city of Helena, solar eclipse glasses, a Donald Trump campaign pin and more.

Submissions for the time capsule were made by the Helena Historic Preservation Committee, as well as residents of Helena.

“People have been at the heart of Helena from the beginning,” Helena Historic Preservation Committee member Jason Redd said at the ceremony. “The people of Helena have developed a town that has grown and built their businesses, built their families, built churches and community organizations. Today, Helena is full of wonderful and caring people who love our town, love our children, we built the schools, we take care of each other and we gather together and rally to help each other. We want that same kind of community in 20 something years and we want the people 22 years from now to know who came before them to build the town they’ll be enjoying in 2040.”

The stainless-steel time capsule box is designed to be underground for 125 years and the items were placed in acid free bags to further help with preserving the items that will be sealed in a case at the Helena Museum.

The Helena Historic Preservation Committee is a group that exists to preserve, promote and protect the history of Helena. To learn more about the organization, visit Facebook.com/HelenaHistory/.