Britain and Argentina were in the midst of the Falkland War.
America was slowly struggling out of the grips of a recession.
Duran Duran was howling "Hungry Like the Wolf," the Culture Club was asking "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" and "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners topped the charts.
But odds are none of that was on the minds of the group of Fannin County children gathered outside the Bonham Public Library on a warm day in June back in 1982.
As part of thelibrary's summer reading program, the youngsters had been busy jotting down their hopes and dreams to be buried in a time capsule. City of Bonham employees shoveled out an appropriate hole, dirt covered the capsule and busy years covered the memory.
Now, at high noon on Wednesday, April 16, 2008, the contents of that time capsule will be revealed and nothing would please the library personnel more than to see those same smiling faces back at the public library to see just what the capsule contains.
If you want a glimpse at how styles have changed over the past 26 years, skip to the bottom of this article and see the ceremony when the time capsule was buried. Look closely and you may even recognize some of the children that enjoyed the summer reading program in 1982. Some of the participants included Matt and Daniel Sisk, Mark and Tracy McCutcheon, Jim Tarpley, Jan Dale, Randy Ray, Cody Miller, Lisa Frambes, Courtney Smith and his sister, Carrie, just to name a few.
"I still can't believe it was over 25 years ago that we buried the time capsule," said Bonham Public Library Director Barbara McCutcheon. "Time flys!"
McCutcheon was a library clerk in 1982.
"When we open this time capsule Wednesday at noon, we'll see what our young people were thinking about 25 years ago," she says excitedly. "This is going to be great!"
One list certain to be in the capsule is the library's board members in 1982, and this group will always be treasured for giving Bonham a very special library that continues to enrich the lives of so many people in the community. This summer will mark the Bonham Public Library's 50th year of the summer reading program.
So many thing have changed since 1982, but bright, smiling faces and young, inquisitive minds still look forward to summer programs at the library. An average of 250 children attended the programs in 2007. And if their dreams had been written down, they just might be very similar to the ones that will be carefully removed from the time capsule April 16.
City of Bonham employees uncover the capsule December 6, 2007.
