History vault to be sealed Wednesday
By Bobbi Mlynar
Originally published 02:14 p.m., February 19, 2008
Updated 02:14 p.m., February 19, 2008
A year’s worth of celebrating Emporia’s history will come to an end Wednesday when Evora Wheeler and Ron Slaymaker close a vault full of memorabilia for future generations to see.
Wheeler and Slaymaker, as co-chairs of the sesquicentennial committee, have spent the past two years organizing a slate of activities to mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of the city.
“All of those events couldn’t have taken place without all of the wonderful volunteers and the coordination provided by the convention and visitors bureau,” Wheeler said. “We couldn’t have done it without everybody’s help.”
From 3 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, the committee will host the final event — a display and vault-sealing — which will be held in the W.L. White Auditorium.
The public can view the items that will be sealed in the vault, and books, shirts and other memorabilia will be sold during the viewing.
“Also, there will be a display of the things there’s not room in the vault for that will go in the museum archives,” Wheeler said.
The vault will contain an assortment of items that represent Emporia as it is now, as well as some items from the past. When the vault is unsealed 50 years from now, viewers will see a range of artifacts that reflect Emporia as it is now, and some artifacts from earlier times.
The committee wants the vault loaded with items, unlike the near-empty vault the committee uncovered when members opened what they had hoped would be a treasure trove of artifacts from the 1957 centennial celebration.
“We were disappointed in what was in it when we opened it on April 1, 2006,” Wheeler said. “There was very little in there. What we’re putting in this time, lots of information about this past 50 years, plus going back, some cases around the turn of the century, because who knows what life will be like 50 years from now?
“We’re going to pack it this time so that they will have a good feel for what has preceded them in the 200 years of Emporia,” she said.
Mayor Julie Johnson, Wheeler and Slaymaker will make brief presentations before the sesquicentennial committee forms a procession to bring the items from the tables to the vault for loading before the ceremony of closing the vault door.
Wheeler, Slaymaker and the committee are hoping for a large crowd as the sesquicentennial activities draw to a close. The opening of the year-long festivities, a birthday party for Emporia on Feb. 20, 2007, was packed throughout the day and through the evening. Schoolchildren arrived by the busload.
“My biggest thrill was finally getting to have the children here,” Wheeler said. “This is history. Some of these kids will be living here years from now.”
The party was packed with history lessons, characterizations, and demonstrations of old-time skills, along with free hot dogs and chips, a cakewalk, music and more in the evening.
“They were enthralled with the founding of the city, and the surveyor ... and the weaving and the knitting and the kitchen display, cooking. All of that, I felt, was so educational for the kids,” she said. “All the birthday cards and things they signed, they’re going in the vault.”