In 2001, Doug Hand’s fifth grade students at Thome School in Rock Falls packed as many treasures as they could into a cooler that was buried, to be unearthed 25 years later.

On Sunday, members of the class did just that. Jacinta Vazquez, Monty Wolf, Merrissa Johnson, Kristin Walrath, Curtis Bush and Lukus Warren were all in attendance to witness the unveiling.

Hand, who died in 2013, had previously organized a time capsule for his class in 1978. A cassette tape found its way from that capsule to this one, with each side dedicated to the class. Unfortunately, the capsule itself collapsed, ruining several things, including most paper items stored inside. Organizers are working to recover that lost tape.

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Floppy disks, gel pens, Beanie Babies, Pokemon cards, a deflated soccer ball, a light bulb, a mostly empty bottle of whiskey and a Slinky were all pulled from the site of a time capsule Sunday, May 31, 2026. It was said Doug Hand, whose fifth grade class at Thome School buried the time capsule in 2001, was an aficionado of whiskey. (Alex T. Paschal)