Millennium Time Capsule

Package compiled by S. Cook & donated by St. Catherin's School. 

Exams have always been a part of our education program, but the curriculum changes over the years as our society's knowledge and values change. This package should give a glimpse of what elementary school education was like in the year 2000. 

View Government Exams 

Donated by Tom Marsden. 

Further on the education vein is the guide for junior and senior high students appropriately entitled "EXCELLENCE". Former students returning for the 2000 homecoming are a testament to this town's ability to excel, as many are leaders and innovators in areas ranging from broadcasting to medicine; from agriculture to the arts. 

View the Picture Butte High School Handbook

Donated by owners Bert & Laurel Foord. 

The "Pokémon" special edition "Game Boy" video game is not only representative of our era's computer technology, but it is the perfect item to represent the past times and often obsessions of the youth of 2000. Also included in this package are a VHS video cassette containing an advertisement for Bert's AG Foods, a flyer, a coupon book, and an AG Smart Card as well as an explanation of the card's purpose. With regards to the video cassette, through present day opinions suggest that it's life span to be considerably less than 25 years, only those of you in 2025 will know for sure. 

View Bert's AG Foods Package

Donated by Kent Hage of Realty World Info Market Group. 

A hot topic of conversation in the year 2000 as in any year is the price of land and real estate. "I remember when you could buy a quarter section for..." is an often heard phrase. These items show which houses and farms were for sale and how much they were worth. 

View the Real Estate Information

Donated by Sue Ruaben, owner of Kid Connections. 

Fashion in the year 2000 is clearly illustrated in living colour in the mainstay of the popular SEARS catalogue. Also included are a pair of sock depicting a popular film character of our era. By the year 2000, merchandising tie-ins with popular film and television was already a huge business with merchandise sales far surpassing the grosses of the depicted film. 

View the SEARS Catalogue & Socks

Donated by the Picture Butte Health Centre. 

Medicine and Healthcare are constantly changing as are the ways in which the medical services are offered to the public. Items such as the weekly residents' menu and activity calendar show just a small part of what life was like for patients in Picture Butte in the year 2000. The X-ray of Nursing unit manager Linda Ballermann's hand may prove to be a curious example of obsolete technology to the healthcare professionals of 2025.

View the Healthcare Items

Donated by Sandy Koenen of Price's Pharmacy. 

The neighbourhood drugstore in Price's Pharmacy has always been more than just a place to pick up prescriptions, and the enclosed flyer shows the various items available including the "back to school" supplies. Also included is a photograph of the store as it looked in 1999 when the new pharmacist Phil Mack and his wife Traci first moved to town. 

View the Flyer & Photograph

Donated by reporter Kathy Bly. 

The first two issues of August 2000 of the weekly community newspaper should be an interesting read for the people of the future. At the time the millennium capsule was sealed, stories focusing on Picture Butte High School's 50th anniversary homecoming reunion and Picture Butte's success in the National Communities in Bloom competition show just how strong of a community we were in 2000. 

View the Sunny South News 

Donated by Maurice Vincent Gibbons. 

The town's oldest living original resident offers newspaper articles and clippings from the past as well as an economic survey of Picture Butte when it was a village in 1953. History and tradition have always been a strong part of Picture Butte, and Mr. Gibbons and the Gibbons family are surely a big part of our present and our past. 

View the Various Items 

Items such as the Walk on the Wild Side Society brochure & pin, and those included in a sealed envelope from the volunteer fire department are symbolic of the tremendous community spirit that abounds in Picture Butte. This spirit will no doubt grow exponentially in the next 25 years. A written synopsis of community involvement and two 2000 commemorative pins are also included as well as the pictures of the mayor and council of 2000.

View the Items from the Town

Donated by Greg Hoffarth of the Cactus Pub & Grill. 

Just one of Picture Butte's many restaurants is represented her with a menu of the year 2000 prices and the kind of foods we ate. The future may see a very different diet from the one of our day. 

View the Menu & Staff List 

Donated by Pat Code of Subway. 

Picture Butte's first franchise restaurant includes a travel coffee mug, a napkin, and a nutrition guide. A brochure detailed franchise opportunities is also included. 

View the Various Items 

Donated by Butte Home Hardware. 

The familiar yellow bag from Picture Butte's hardware, lumber, and giftware centre holds surprises for the people of the future, as we weren't allowed to peak inside. 

View the Various Items

Donated by Sue Ruaben of the Frosty Dip. 

The Frosty Dip has been a fixture in Picture Butte for years serving up burgers, fries, and frosty delights to the hungry throngs of summer. The trademark "Frosty Dip Blue" was the inspiration for the bright blue milkshake container which is specially ordered just for the 'Dip. Inside the container is a wooden nickel which comes from the 'Dip's own archives. 

View the Milkshake Container & Wooden Nickel

Donated by an anonymous smoker. 

"Smokes" may still be around in 25 years, but we question if they will be herein 100 years. Just in case the people in the future have no idea what they are, we offer a brief description. Popular throughout the 20th century, smoking tobacco in cigarette form began to lose wide spread acceptance in the 1990's. Heavy taxation, numerous health concerns, and restrictive smoking laws are all combining to make cigarettes less and less popular. 

View the Cigarettes

A collection of the musings of the people that make up our community. The memory books were placed in both the Bank of Nova Scotia and the Alberta Treasury Branch for several weeks before the capsules were sealed. People were encouraged to share whatever they wished to share. 

View the Memory Book

Click here to download the Time Capsule Contents