Time Capsule From Long-Closed Enfield Parochial School Unearthed

ENFIELD, CT — After 47 years in its own building at 90 Alden Avenue, St. Adalbert School closed at the end of the 2005-06 academic year. In June 2006, students from the K-8 school buried a time capsule on the grounds, with the intention of having it opened in 2026.

The building stood vacant for a decade until Manchester developer William Bellock bought it in 2016 and began converting it into 20 single-bedroom apartments, which opened in 2018. The adjacent St. Adalbert Church, a fixture since its construction in 1915, continued to offer Masses until being abrubtly closed in early 2022 to remediate a mold issue in the basement.

"The mold was removed and remediated sometime the end of May 2022, but it was not reopened for regular worship," parishioner Donna Swols told Patch

After a farewell Mass Sunday which drew nearly 500 worshippers, sale of the church property is nearing completion, possibly as early as next week. Some members of the old school community wanted to retrieve the time capsule before the new owners, reportedly another church community, moves in.

One problem - no one seemed to remember exactly where it was buried, according to former school parent Liz Widun. Her daughter Jordyn spearheaded the effort to locate the missing artifact.

"Deacon Paul Robert gave us permission to start searching, and said it was okay to keep looking as long as the Archdiocese owned [the property],"Liz Widun told Patch. "Since last Saturday, we have been there every day digging with no luck. My daughter would not give up, and through various connections, [former parochial school basketball coach] Jim Camidge was contacted."

Armed with a metal detector, Camidge went to the grounds Friday, and found the capsule within about 20 minutes.

"It had been buried in a plastic pretzel container, and whoever buried it had sealed it with metal tape," Liz Widun said. "There also was a metal fork and spoon from the cafeteria inside. Otherwise, we may not have found it, and we certainly would not have found it without Jim's help."

Originally, the plan was to open the capsule following the farewell Mass, but since it had not yet been located, it was opened upon its discovery Friday. It contained items including a photo of the last graduating class, a stuffed eagle, a school handbook, rosary beads and a blank report card.

"There's no monetary value in it, but there is a lot of sentimental value to these kids," Liz Widun said.

The effort to determine the capsule's location and eventually retrieving it has enabled classmates who have been out of touch for many years, many of whom are now in their late 20s and early 30s, to reconnect via social media.

"The search for this time capsule has brought these kids back together," Liz Widun said.