TIME CAPSULE PUT IN PLACE

It only took a few minutes to bury the YELL time capsule Tuesday evening near A.C. Brase Arena Building at Arena Park, but nearly a century's worth of work went into it.

The Rev. Walter Keisker asked the crowd gathered for the 45-minute ceremony to take a little inventory of what has happened in the past century.

Once the new millennium dawns Jan. 1, Keisker, 100, will be able to say he has lived in three centuries. But he said that doesn't mean he appreciates all the progress.

"Unthinkable things have been accomplished in that time span," he said. "And we are all part of it. But do we appreciate what we have? I'll make a confession: I don't."

Some of those unthinkable things include television, air conditioning, astronauts walking on the moon, heart transplants and surgeries, laser surgeries, computers, and even simple things like ambulances with sirens and helicopters.

When fairgoers at the 1938 World's Fair marked "The World of Tomorrow," that time became the "days of our time," Keisker said.

Burying the Youth Education Literacy Learning Foundation time capsule isn't the same as holding a memorial service or breaking ground for new construction. It doesn't symbolize things to come but remembers the things already past, he said. "It's a snapshot of the past."

When the capsule is opened Sept. 14, 2049, J.P. Limbaugh will be the honorary chairman of the ceremony. Limbaugh, a junior at Cape Girardeau Central High School, spoke about the need for combating illiteracy in the area.

YELL is a program designed to promote literacy and learning so that every person can learn to read.

Even though America may have one of the finest educational systems in the world, people still fall through the cracks, Limbaugh said. "Whether young or old, all people should be given the opportunity to read and learn," he said.

It's the mission of the YELL Foundation to see that those cracks are filled. Limbaugh said he hopes that when the time capsule is opened, all people will be able to read and understand its contents.

The time capsule includes a copy of Tuesday's Southeast Missourian and YELL editions, the Cape Girardeau City Charter, a copy of the 1999 SEMO District Fair book, the city Parks and Recreation Department's calendar of events, city maps, stories about Jackson's designation as a "beautiful city," and a book marking the 125th anniversary of Southeast Missouri State University.