A blast from the past: History resurfaces at Hayfield Hey Days

Published 11:42 am Monday, July 30, 2012

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HAYFIELD — Current and former Girl Scouts unveiled a rare look into the past Saturday during Hayfield’s Hey Days.

A little after 3:30 p.m., a group of more than 20 people gathered on the lawn of Field Crest Care Center to open a time capsule that was buried 25 years ago when the Girl Scouts were celebrating their 75th birthday. The group opened the capsule as a way to celebrate the Girl Scouts’ 100th birthday.

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“It’s pretty amazing,” said former scout Corinna Branstad, who was 8 when the capsule was buried.

She said most of the former scouts on hand focused on the photographs buried in the capsule. Branstad and others — many wearing buttons reading “Always a Girl Scout” — snapped pictures of the old photographs with cell phones, and others passed around a news clipping from the Hayfield newspaper taken when the capsule was buried.

Former Girl Scout troop leader Deb Towey, treasurer of Hey Days, said she had worried the time capsule might be lost, because it was moved and people didn’t know where it was.

However, Towey said she quickly found it had been moved during renovations at Field Crest to a spot beside a flag pole.

Along with photographs, Girl Scout calendars had been buried — one listing many of the girls’ birthdays. A number of badges and copies of a registration form were also buried.

“This is just awesome, because we didn’t know what to expect,” said Towey.

Towey said the opening was special, and she didn’t know how meaningful it would be until she saw all the snippets of the past, including a photograph taken at her troop’s 1986 Christmas party in her living room.

Towey said she and many other former scouts now have daughters who are Girl Scout members or are now troop leaders.

“The Girl Scout program meant a lot to them or that wouldn’t have happened,” she said.

The items from the time capsule will go into the archives of the Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys.

Gege Abraham, a Girl Scout membership specialist, said the archives are extensive and open for use in temporary displays or projects.

Towey said she’s going to speak with current Hayfield Girl Scout leaders once the school year begins about burying a new time capsule to be opened for the Girl Scouts’ 125th birthday.

Abraham said they’re expecting about 20 Girl Scouts in Hayfield this year, but the group is looking for more members and volunteers.