One interesting part of Madison's yearlong sesquicentennial celebration aims to set a little something aside for an expected bicentennial celebration 50 years down the road.
The City of Madison is sponsoring a time capsule that will be sealed inside a bench at the Overture Center until Madison's 200th anniversary celebration.
According to George Twigg, spokesperson for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, the concept was first envisioned by WISC-TV anchorwoman Katy Sai, who brought it to the attention of the city.
"[Sai] had been talking to the people at the Overture Center about it, and it wasn't something we had included in our original sesquicentennial plans," Twigg said.
After it was introduced, Twigg said it met approval and praise from the mayor as a "good civic exercise." Twigg said the sesquicentennial anniversary is important, and added time capsules are a great way to represent a community.
Twigg also noted the process being used to select the final items sealed in the capsule should ensure a variety of items that truly capture what it is like to live in Madison in 2006. He said a jury, comprised of several community members, is in charge of the time capsule's contents.
"Anyone was able to submit an item," Twigg said. "A jury was put together including a historian and a few local people from different backgrounds, and they sorted through the submissions."
David Mollenhoff, a Madison historian and juror for the time capsule submissions, further explained the role of a juror in the process of choosing the items.
"The role for us jurors was to select 20 to 25 items that we thought were the must-haves — things that we felt would be truly important for that snapshot 50 years from now," he said. "Another job we had was to discard things that we thought would not be appropriate."
Mollenhoff added while the jurors play an important role in the selections, it is really the people of Madison that have the most say in what will make the final roster. He said the power in this project belongs to citizens, who can vote online to select the majority of items.
Among the time capsule submissions are a number of items that pertain to the University of Wisconsin in some way. Such items include a Capitol One Bowl football signed by Barry Alvarez, UW admissions materials and a Wisconsin Alumni Association Lapel pin.
Mollenhoff said the significance of all the items will work together so the collection as a whole will provide a complete picture of Madison life in 2006.
"Each piece is like a piece of a mosaic," Mollenhoff said. "And only when it is assembled do you see the patterns, the colors and the texture."