Message to the future in Acadia time capsule, for the year 2116

Centennial logo for Acadia National Park

The official Acadia Centennial logo

If you celebrated the Acadia Centennial, you won’t be there for the opening of the Acadia Bicentennial Time Capsule in the year 2116. But you can hand down the generations the story of how you marked the 100th, and how there may be evidence of it in a special steel box in the Bar Harbor Bank & Trust lobby.

If you participated in an Acadia Centennial event, like Take Pride in Acadia Day, Park Science Day, or the Acadia Centennial Trek, your descendants may find a digital photo from the event, with you in it, in that specially manufactured Acadia time capsule.

acadia national park hiking

Digital photo of Acadia Centennial Trek participants James Linnane, Shelley Dawson, Maureen Fournier, Acadia on My Mind and Kristy Sharp on the sand bar to Bar Island, is included in the Acadia time capsule. (Photo courtesy of Kristy Sharp)

(Go to bottom of story to see a complete list of items by name in the Acadia Bicentennial Time Capsule.)

Or if you bought an official Centennial product, like the 2016 Acadia calendar by Bob Thayer, the Anatomy of a Bates Cairn T-shirt by Moira O’Neill and Judy Hazen Connery, or the Acadia Centennial Trek Medal, your descendants may find that very same item in the time capsule.

Watch the Facebook livestream of the installation of the time capsule, Feb. 3, beginning at 1:30 p.m., featuring remarks by Bar Harbor Bankshares president and CEO Curtis C. Simard; Acadia superintendent Kevin Schneider; Friends of Acadia president David MacDonald; Acadia Bicentennial Time Capsule Working Group co-chair Charles Stanhope; and Acadia Centennial Task Force co-chair Jack Russell. The video of the half-hour event can be viewed after the fact as well at the Acadia National Park Centennial 2016 Facebook page.

While we won’t be there to bear witness at the installation of the Acadia time capsule today, or at its unsealing in 2116, we’re proud – and tickled pink – to have a digital copy of the 3rd edition of our “Hiking Acadia National Park” book, along with digital photos of the Acadia Centennial Trek, included in that stainless steel box.

acadia centennial

A digital photo of the Acadia Centennial Trek Medal, still available for sale to help raise funds for the park, is included in the Acadia time capsule.

We plan to bring family members and friends to visit the Acadia time capsule in the bank lobby, bearing a copy of our hiking book and wearing an Acadia Centennial Trek Medal, to take a photo for posterity, perhaps once a year, for as long as possible. And may that be a message to the future, about how our generation appreciated Acadia, and about how we hope the park is as loved 100 years from now.

To see whether any of the Centennial events you attended or products you purchased are included in the Acadia time capsule, check out the list of items by name, based on information provided by the Acadia Centennial Task Force:

Acadia time capsule features products, digital photos, and official documents

  • 100 Words for Acadia Writing Contest Youth Winners Announcement – digital item
  • 2016 Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce Visitors’ Guide – physical item
  • 4th of July Parade Themed to the Acadia Centennial – digital and physical item
  • “A Night with Dayton Duncan”– physical and digital item
  • “A Thinking Person’s Guide to National Parks” – digital item
  • AAA Northern New England “Journey” magazine – physical item
  • Abbe Museum People of the First Light exhibit – digital item
  • Acadia Author’s Night – digital and physical item

    acadia time capsule

    The specially manufactured Acadia Bicentennial Time Capsule can be visited any time over the next 100 years at the Bar Harbor Bank & Trust lobby on Main Street. (Photo courtesy of Friends of Acadia, Julia Walker Thomas)

  • Acadia Bicentennial Time Capsule – digital and physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Ball Cap – physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Canvas Beverage Canteen – physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Carriage Drive – digital and physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Coaster – physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Collection, Acadia Through a Furniture Maker’s Eyes – digital item
  • Acadia Centennial Flag – physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Fundraising and Budgeting – digital item
  • Acadia Centennial Lectures – digital and physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Marketing – digital and physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Mug – physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Partner and Product Recognition Tools – physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Partners Meetings and Events – digital and physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Signature Sponsor Information – physical item

    acadia time capsule

    Acadia Centennial Task Force co-chairs Jack Russell and Cookie Horner declare the Acadia Centennial celebration over with a ceremonial gavel thump of an Acadia hiking stick, and a high five. (Photo courtesy of Friends of Acadia, Julia Walker Thomas)

  • Acadia Centennial Signature Sponsors – digital item
  • Acadia Centennial Stemless Wine Glass – physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Task Force – digital and physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Trek Meet-up – digital item
  • Acadia Centennial Website – digital and physical item
  • Acadia Centennial Wine Glass – physical item
  • Acadia Choral Society Spring Concert Program – physical item
  • Acadia Day at Fenway – digital and physical item
  • Acadia National Park from Space Poster – physical item
  • Acadia National Park Materials from Lynne Dominy – digital and physical item
  • “Acadia National Park: A Centennial Celebration” – digital and physical item (NOTE: See sidebar about Amazon.com links)

    acadia centennial

    Published in partnership with Friends of Acadia, the book features the photographs of Tom Blagden, Jr., and essays by Dayton Duncan, former Acadia superintendent Sheridan Steele, FOA president and CEO David MacDonald, and others. (Photo courtesy of Friends of Acadia)

  • Acadia Night Sky Festival – digital item
  • Acadia on My Mind: “Hiking Acadia National Park” – digital item
  • Acadia Science Symposium Keynote Address – digital item
  • Acadia Sings! Spring Concert 2016 – digital item
  • Acadia Task Force Portrait – digital item
  • Acadia the Beautiful: A Concert of American Music Program – physical item
  • Acadia Visitor Center Materials – physical items, including Island Explorer bus map, 2016 Passport Stamp Series, an Acadia National Park sticker and a Centennial collectible coin
  • “Acadia Waltz” performed by the Kelley Farm Five – digital item
  • Advance Journal and Calendar for Maine Senate, day of Acadia Centennial resolution – physical item
  • Ambrosia Cooking School Display – digital item
  • “An Acadian Portrait” Narrator’s Text – physical item

    bates cairns

    The Anatomy of a Bates cairn T-shirt, by Moira O’Neill and Ranger Judy Hazen Connery, points out the purpose of each stone and includes the Acadia Centennial logo on the sleeve.

  • Anatomy of a Bates Cairn T-shirt – physical item
  • ANP Staff, Bangor Classroom Every Kid in a Park Visit – digital item
  • Art Meets Science Exhibit Opening – digital item
  • “Art of Acadia” – digital and physical item
  • Art on West, Let Them Eat Cake – digital item
  • Art Walk – digital item
  • Artemis Gallery’s Centennial Events Postcard and Show – digital and physical item
  • “A Hundred Years of Solitude,” article from The Daily Telegraph – physical item
  • Arts Community Working Group – digital and physical item
  • Atlantic Brewing Event Celebrating “59 in 59” – digital item
  • August Art Exhibits – digital item
  • Auto Wars at the Seal Cove Auto Museum – digital item
  • Bagaduce Chorale’s concert “Eternal Sky Centenial Ride” Program – physical item
  • Bar Harbor Brass Week Concert – digital and physical item
  • Bar Harbor Chamber Award – digital item
  • Bar Harbor Chamber Materials – digital item
  • Bar Harbor Fine Arts Festival – digital item
  • Bar Harbor Historical Society Board of Directors Letter to the Future – physical item
  • Bar Harbor Music Festival Blackwoods Performance – digital item
  • Bar Harbor Savings & Loan Art- digital item
  • Bar Harbor Times “Acadia National Park Celebrates 75 Years” Supplement – physical item
  • Bar Harbor Town Band – digital item
  • Bean Supper – digital item
  • Beatrix Farrand Society Talk – digital item
  • Before Acadia Adventure and Discovery – digital item

    Acadia Centennial

    This 2016 Acadia Centennial calendar is by ranger naturalist Bob Thayer. (Image courtesy of Bob Thayer)

  • “Beyond Bar Harbor” – physical item
  • Bob Thayer 2016 Acadia National Park Calendar – physical item
  • Camp Beech Cliff Ice Cream Party – digital item
  • Camp Beech Cliff Welcome Reception – digital item
  • Cape Air “Bird’s Eye View” Spring 2016 Magazine – physical item
  • Car Free Acadia Day – digital item
  • Carolyn Bouton “Acadia Celebrating a Century” poster – physical item
  • Catherine Breer 2016 Commemorative Desk Calendar and Calendar Signing – physical and digital item
  • Catherine Schmitt, Champlain Society Talk and “Historic Acadia National Park”– digital and physical item (NOTE: See sidebar about Amazon.com links)
  • Centennial Delegation Brunch at the Eacho House – digital item
  • Centennial Edition of Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce’s Discover Mount Desert Island Guide – physical item
  • Centennial of First Acadia Celebration – digital item
  • Centennial Photos of Cookie Horner and Jack Russell – digital item
  • Centennial Slideshow – digital item
  • “Chebacco,” the Magazine of the Mount Desert Island Historical Society, Volume XVII 2016 – physical item
  • Civilian Conservation Corps Contribution to Acadia Lecture – digital and physical item
  • Coastal Conversations in Acadia – digital item
  • Collen Miniuk-Sperry’s 2016 A Year in Acadia Calendar – physical item

    george dorr

    Ronald H. Epp’s biography of George Dorr is published by the Friends of Acadia. (Image courtesy of Friends of Acadia)

  • College of the Atlantic Magazine Fall 2016 – digital item
  • College of the Atlantic Tom Blagden’s exhibit “Glaciers to Granite” – digital and physical item
  • Commemoration of 1947 Fire and Resilience – digital and physical item
  • Craig Courtney original music “I Am Bound for the Promised Land” – physical item
  • “Creating Acadia National Park” – digital and physical item related to Ronald H. Epp biography of George B. Dorr, and Jim Peverini impersonating Dorr
  • Cultural Connections in the Park – digital item
  • Cultural Landscape Inventory and Assessment for Oldfarm – physical item
  • “Dancing at the Mill” – digital item
  • Darron Collins Acadia and National Parks Project – digital
  • Designing Acadia Exhibit at Maine Historical Society – physical item
  • Dorr Museum Centennial Exhibit – digital item
  • Down East Magazine’s Acadia Special Collector’s Edition – physical item
  • Earl Brechlin Talk, Bar Harbor Postcards – digital item
  • Early Cultivation of Acadia Centennial Partners – digital and physical item
  • Early Development of Acadia Centennial Concept and Plan – digital and physical item
  • Earth Day Roadside Cleanup – digital item
  • Eeek of Ecology – digital item
  • Ellsworth Business Expo – digital item
  • Ellsowrth Chamber of Commerce March 2016 Newsletter – physical item
  • Ellsworth Product Display – digital item
  • Eric Fitzpatrick Art on West – digital item
  • Facebook Live Stream Videos – digital item
  • Flags and Stickers in Town – digital item
  • Flags Island Artisans – digital item
  • Flamingo Festival 2016 Jonathan Gormley Photos – digital item

    acadia time capsule

    A PDF of the Fall/Winter 2016 issue of the Friends of Acadia Journal is included in the Acadia time capsule. (Image courtesy of Friends of Acadia)

  • Flower Show – digital item
  • Friends of Acadia Annual Meeting – digital and physical item
  • Friends of Acadia Benefit Gala – digital item
  • Friends of Acadia Journals – digital and physical item
  • Friends of Acadia Second Century Campaign – physical item
  • Gallery at Somes Sound Centennial Collection Booklet – digital item
  • Garden Community Working Group – digital and physical item
  • George Sanker Photograph of North American River Otter – digital and physical item
  • Gifford’s Acadia Birthday Party Ellsworth – digital item
  • Gift of Acadia Event Materials – digital and physical item
  • Gouldsboro Historical Society – digital item
  • Governor’s Proclamation Honoring Acadia National Park’s 100th Birthday – physical item
  • Great Harbor Maritime Museum – digital item
  • Great Maine Outdoor Weekend Poster – digital item
  • Green & Healthy Maine Visitor’s Guide, Summer-Fall 2016 – physical item
  • Guide to the Acadia Centennial Collection at Gallery at Somes Sound – physical item
  • Guide to the Bicentennial Time Capsule – digital and physical item
  • Haborside Giant Cake – digital item
  • Hawaii Volcanoes Sister Park – digital and physical item
  • History of Volunteer Work, Mike Hays – digital and physical item
  • Hokulea Centennial, Jon Williams – digital item
  • Information about the Jackson Laboratory’s 2016 Edward H. Birkenmeier Lecture – physical item
  • “Images of Acadia, Hancock County Hookers Celebrating 100 Years of Acadia National Park” – physical item
  • Island Artisans – digital item
  • Island Quilters – digital and physical item
  • Jack Russell Acadia Centennial Task Force Files – digital item
  • Jack Russell: A New Deal for Acadia CCC Talk – digital item
  • Jeff Dobbs Videos – digital item
  • John Holyoke’s Bangor Daily News piece, “Acadia Memories on an Important Day” – physical item
  • July Art Exhibits – digital item

    acadia time capsule

    An actual Junior Ranger Hat, like the one featured in this National Park Service photo, is included in the Acadia time capsule. (NPS photo)

  • Junior Ranger Day Acadia National Park – digital item
  • Junior Ranger Hat – physical item
  • Kaitlyn Metcalf, Century One Acadia 100 Paintings – digital item
  • Ken Olson’s Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument Presentation – digital item
  • Kevin Gardner Discovering New England Stone Walls – digital item
  • Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival – digital item
  • Liddy Hubbell 2016 Calendar – physical item
  • Louise Bourn at Cynthia Winings Gallery – digital item
  • Louise Phillips Ribbon Cutting at Schoodic – digital item
  • Maine Dog Magazine Fall 2016 – digital item
  • Maine Legislative Joint Resolution Commemorating Acadia National Park Centennial – digital and physical item
  • Maine Public Broadcasting Network, “Maine Calling” – digital item
  • Maine Sea Coast Mission Tours – digital item
  • Maine Windjammers Parade, Somes Sound – digital item
  • Mary Vekasi Quilted Wall Hanging – physical item
  • MDI Directions Fine Craft Show – digital item
  • MDI Students Celebrate the Centennial – digital and physical item
  • MDI Biological Laboratory Art Meets Science – digital item
  • Mount Desert Elementary School Chorus at Junior Ranger Day – digital item

    acadia time capsule

    Among the National Park Service Centennial items is a physical copy of the Every Kid in a Park brochure. (US Department of the Interior image)

  • Mount Desert Islander Coverage – digital and physical item
  • Mount Desert Summer Chorale Concert, “In Nature’s Realm: An Acadia Centennial Concert” – digital and physical item
  • National Park Service Centennial Materials and Katahdin Woods and Waters Information – physical item
  • National Trails Day – digital item
  • National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Preservation Magazine, Summer 2016 – physical item
  • NPS Centennial Links – digital and physical item
  • Open Lighthouse Day Poster – physical item
  • Park Centennial Best Practices Working Group – digital and physical item
  • Park Science Day – digital and physical item
  • PechaKucha MDI Show on Acadia and Centennial – digital and physical item
  • Pierre Monteux School Acadia Fanfare Concert – digital item
  • Portland Magazine, “Ready, Set, Summer” Issue – physical item
  • Portland Press Herald Newspaper Supplement on Acadia Centennial Celebration – physical item
  • Products Working Group – digital and physical item
  • Quality Acadia Experience During Centennial Visitation Surge – digital and physical item
  • Rebecca Edmondson original music pieces for The Eastern Maine Pops Orchestra – digital and physical item
  • Red Cloak Haunted History Tours – digital item
  • Robert Hagberg Becoming an Artist – digital item
  • “Sadie’s Winter Dream, Fishermen’s Wives & Maine Sea Coast Mission Hooked Rugs, 1923-1938” – physical item
  • Schoodic Ferry Ride – digital item
  • Science Community Working Group – digital and physical item
  • “Small as an Elephant” – physical item (NOTE: See sidebar about Amazon.com links)
  • Southwest Harbor Public Library Art in Public Spaces Exhibit – digital item
  • “Spoonhandle” – digital and physical item (NOTE: See sidebar about Amazon.com links)
  • Star-making Kit and Instructions – physical item
  • Statewide Working Group – digital and physical item
  • Story Litchfield Pictures – digital item
  • Summer Festival of the Arts Catalogue and Camp Guide – physical item
  • Sunrise at Otter Cliffs, January 1, 2016 – digital item
  • Take Pride in Acadia Day – digital item
  • Talk of the Towns, “Creating Acadia National Park” – digital item
  • TEDxDirigo Reception at College of the Atlantic – digital item
  • TEMPO Fall Concert Program, “Music of Acadia” – physical item
  • The Bar Harbor Music Festival, Brass Venture Eric Ewazen – digital item
  • “The End of Night” – physical item (NOTE: See sidebar about Amazon.com links)
  • “The Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations: An Historical Sketch, 2nd edition, Woodlawn Museum Ellsworth” – digital item
  • The Nature of Halloween at College of the Atlantic – digital item
  • “The Picture Book of the Acadia Centennial” – physical item
  • “The Wild Gardens of Acadia” – digital and physical item (NOTE: See sidebar about Amazon.com links)
  • “Trails of History” – digital item
  • “Trail Workers” to College of the Atlantic – digital and physical item
  • “Transformer Tales: Stories of the Dawnland” – digital item
  • USA Today Special Edition Coverage of Acadia Centennial– physical item
  • Wednesday Painters – digital item
  • Wendell Gilley Museum Friends in Acadia Exhibit – digital item
  • Wooden Centennial Ornament – physical item
  • Writings by Kristi Rugg – physical item
  • Youth and the Acadia Centennial – digital and physical item
  • Youth Intern Gathering 2014 – digital item

 

Dolores Kong & Dan Ring

About Dolores Kong & Dan Ring

Dolores Kong and Dan Ring are co-authors of the Falcon guides Hiking Acadia National Park and Best Easy Day Hikes Acadia National Park, and also blog at acadiaonmymind.com. They’ve backpacked the 270-plus miles of the Appalachian Trail in Maine, and are members of the Northeast 111 Club, having hiked all major peaks of the Northeast. Dolores is a former staff reporter at The Boston Globe. Dan is a journalist and former Statehouse bureau chief in Boston for the old Ottaway News Service and for The Republican, the daily newspaper for Springfield, Mass. They are married and live in New England.