Photo by Diana Moore

Books and periodicals detailing everything from sweeping societal changes, to municipal street sweeping schedules. Essays offering the big-picture takeaway on the challenges of the 21st century, and take-out menus representing the
city’s richly diverse smorgasbord of dining experiences. Souvenirs of the waterfront’s celebrated tourism attractions, and mementoes of year-round living in the neighborhoods of this city of summers. Official proclamations and communications from City Hall, and offerings from local students on their favorite activities and diversions. All of it representing contemporary life in the 150th anniversary year of Asbury Park’s founding — and all of it scheduled for rediscovery by a future generation of Asbury Parkers, following a special Time Capsule Dedication and Burial on the afternoon of Sunday, December 19, 2021.

Scheduled for 2:00 pm at the Asbury Park Historical Society’s Stephen Crane House headquarters at 508 Fourth Avenue, the public-welcome ceremony marks the culmination of a project designed to cap a busy Sesquicentennial Year of special events and activities. Here in an interlude that’s seen its share of challenges and sea-changes — from the coming of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing effects of climate change, to the local hot-button issues of gentrification, affordable housing, education, transportation, and shifting demographics — the idea is to present a portrait to the people of the city’s bicentennial year of 2071, of a vital community that came together to forge solutions, find its collective voice, and face toward a future that worked to the benefit of all who made their home here.

In the words of Time Capsule Committee chair and Historical Society officer Susan Rosenberg, the project “belongs to all Asbury Park residents…past, present, and future.”

Working remotely even during her recent travels to the Middle East, Susan consulted with her committee members…a group that also includes fellow APHS trustee and city councilwoman Eileen Chapman, as well as Lisa Bovino and Elena Zazanis…to select a carefully curated collection of donated materials, much of which was then transferred to archival-grade media. The group, a subcommittee of the Asbury Park Sesquicentennial campaign chaired by Celia Morrissette, raised funds for a professional quality, water-tight stainless steel container manufactured by Heritage Time Capsules of Buffalo, NY, as well as a custom plaque designed and installed by Beth and Pete Woolley of Monmouth County-based Peaceable Kingdom Monuments.

Volunteers from the Asbury Park Little League are scheduled to handle the interment of the capsule, at an easily visible site in front of the concrete Mayfair Theatre wishing well that sits just off the front porch of the Crane House. Guests are set to include Mayor John Moor, who drafted a letter to his future successor in office for the occasion — and following the outdoor ceremony, attendees are invited to enjoy Asbury Park 150th Birthday Cake and other seasonal refreshments, during a reception inside the Crane House.

Sealed beneath cement and marked with its plaque, the capsule and its contents will occupy their appointed berth for the next half century, there on a property that has safely and successfully navigated its way through every epic storm, economic upheaval, and major current event of the past 143 years. From there, it’s up to the people of Asbury Park 2071 to retrieve the buried capsule on schedule — and, in the process, discover some intriguing things about the lives of the people who crafted this snapshot of a revitalized, re-energized, ever- fascinating city, way back in 2021.