Captain Bruce Heyman Takes the Helm of LA Maritime Institute p. 2
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LB City Prosecutor Seeks Reelection, Plans to Address Roots of Crime in 2nd Term p. 5 TE San Pedro’s Hamlet Closes Dec. 21 p. 11
By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
San Pedro Retrieves Time Capsule Buried 25 Years Ago on a Day Filled with Meaning
T
The Local Publication You Actually Read
he burial and retrieval of time capsules is like sending a message in a bottle to your future self, should you forget how awesome or how terrible your present is. The Dec. 5 time capsule opening ceremony went quicker than most functions hosted by the Los Angeles City Council. That’s not a strike against the current Joe Buscaino administration. That’s just the nature of official gatherings in which there’s always a pecking order in who gets to speak and for how long. San Pedro’s remaining living treasures, a bit fewer than the ones who attended the dinner in honor of San Pedro’s 85-years-or-better club back in March, were lined up next to the dais—some of whom were involved in the original 1988 time capsule committee. I resolved to briefly interview at least a couple of the living treasures before the ceremony began, but I was at a loss for what I could possibly ask them to elicit a profound quote. Councilman Buscaino, wanting to do this year’s Christmas tree lighting big, went to the San Pedro Property Business Improvement District for $1,500 to add a couple of extras to this year’s event. The extras turned out to be a snow pile so that local kids could slide down in plastic tubs, with a few bales of hay to stop their momentum. Hot drinks and pastries were included. The minutes taken up by talking heads were kept to a bare minimum. The hole in which the capsule was buried 25 years ago at Peppertree Plaza, at the foot of 6th Street, had already been excavated and covered with wooden boards and a tarp. Serving as emcee of the event, former president of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce Dennis Lord recalled the day San Pedro buried the time capsule as if it were yesterday. “...you’ll see photos of the ugliest looking hearse that you’ll ever see in your life,” he prefaced his recollection. He recounted watching an 8,000-pound mahogany hearse modeled from a 1938 La Salle chassis. One of Lord’s friends, who lived in Wilmington, owned the vehicle. The time capsule was hoisted onto the hearse while it was parked on Gaffey and 6th streets before proceeding slowly down 6th Street as if it were a New Orleans-style funeral procession—music and all. This went on until it reached the plaza next to the San Pedro City Hall building. Lord, 66, said he wasn’t sure he’d last 25 years to see the capsule dug up, but he was glad to see a number of friends that were present during the burial. Lord invited Gary Larson, the chairman of the original time capsule committee to speak. “I’m not even sure what’s in there anymore. The first thing to go is the mind. I can’t even remember what was planted in there,” Larson said, half jokingly. “It’ll be just as much of a surprise to me as it is to everyone else.”
December 13 - 26, 2013
Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino pulls out items from a 25year-old time capsule on Dec. 5 at Peppertree Plaza in San Pedro. Photo: Betty Guevara.
Time Capsule Unearthed/ to p. 61