Is there a time capsule? Find out Tuesday

The mystery of whether a "time capsule" is hidden behind the cornerstone of the Leelanau County courthouse in Leland will be solved on Tuesday at 11 a.m.

The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners decided during a special meeting on Monday that they will remove the cornerstone during a break in their regular monthly executive committee meeting Tuesday morning.

The board directed county buildings and grounds maintenance supervisor Jerry Culman to cut the mortar around the cornerstone so it could be easily removed by commissioners during the ceremony.

“And Jerry had better not peek behind that cornerstone beforehand!” quipped District No. 4 commissioner Mary Tonneberger. who chairs a “design subcommittee” of the county board. In addition to recommending interior design details for the new county courthouse now under construction in Suttons Bay Township, the subcommittee has taken on the task of handling “time capsule” issues associated with the move of the county seat.

When the “1966” cornerstone was ceremonially put in place at the Leland courthouse in 1968, news accounts at the time indicated that there were plans to place a “time capsule” there as well. However, the one person still living who participated in the ceremony as a county official in 1968, Benjamin Hohnke, said recently that he doesn’t recall anything about a time capsule.

Tonneberger said her committee wants to see what is in the old time capsule – assuming it exists – before deciding what to put in a new time capsule to be installed in the new courthouse in Suttons Bay Township.

The subcommittee has sent letters to the heads of eight schools in Leelanau County asking for student input on what should be included in a new time capsule that could remain sealed for 50-100 years. Tonneberger said she expected her committee would have a recommendation for the full county board on what should be included in a new time capsule by Oct. 1.