Sarah Edith Foster, left, and Jenny Maheu are organizing Turner’s Century Box Jubilee on Nov. 12 at Leavitt Area High School. The town’s first two Century Boxes from 1923 and 1973 will be reopened in a ceremony from 4-6 p.m. Items related to the town’s history are being collected for a third box to be sealed and stored for the next 50 years. Maheu’s grandfather, Stanley Timberlake, shot four of the deer that hang inside the Northland True Value Hardware store in Turner. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
TURNER — Town officials are looking for more items from residents to place in the town’s third Century Box to be opened in 50 years.
Specifically, they are asking for items that reflect the town as it is now.
About five items that have been submitted, according to resident and event organizer Jenny Maheu. They include a Leavitt Area High School yearbook from this year and a Facemask. Organizers are asking for small tokens, such as a magnet, from all businesses in town to place in the box.
“So I think it would be neat though, to see in 50 years when they open it up to be like ‘oh, they’re still here, they’re still here, they’re not here,’” she said.
There are collection boxes at the Town Office and library for items to be considered for the third box.
Natalie Pillsbury, treasurer of the Turner History Museum, looks at the items collected so far for the 2023 Century Box, a collection of current town memorabilia. The first two Century Boxes from 1923 and 1973 will be reopened in a ceremony from 4-6 p.m. Nov. 12 at Leavitt Area High School. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Maheu is helping plan the Century Box Jubilee in collaboration with town officials, the library and history museum.
On Nov. 12, officials will open the first two Century Boxes, which include bonds that have appreciated in value since 1923. They are now valued at $117,000 and the money used for certain town purposes.
The ceremony will be held from 4-6 p.m. at Leavitt Area High School at 21 Matthews Way, which is off Lower Street.
Messages, letters, prophecies, photos, town history and family stories were placed in one box in 1923 and the box opened in 1973. Items were added to another box in 1973 that reflected the town at that time.
After this year’s ceremony, items in the first two boxes will be displayed at the library for a week before being returned to them and sealed in a ceremony. All three boxes will be stored in a secure facility.
Turner History Museum Treasurer Natalie Pilsbury said having relics of the past can help people in the present see what life was like at that time. The History Museum’s purpose is to protect the town’s past for the present and the future.
Resident Sarah Edith Foster, who is helping plan the Century Box Jubilee, said there are essay and art contests for Turner students in Maine School Administrative District 52 schools. Winning submissions will be displayed with items from the boxes for a week at the library, then all submissions will be preserved at the library.
She said she hopes students will be involved with the next box opening in 50 years to enjoy reading their submissions.
She is working to have the Century Box Jubilee livestreamed through the high school’s Buzz Media so people can view it remotely and allow former residents to access it. “I think that it’s really important … to have that community feeling and feeling like you belong.”
Maheu said she has seen the town where she grew up change a lot over the years. She never foresaw Route 4 expanding to what it is now and the amount of traffic on it. The town also has a Hannaford supermarket, Dollar General store and a stoplight since she was growing up.
“Who would have ever thought we’d have a stoplight?” she asked. “I mean you roll through here on a Friday night at 5 p.m. and you sit in traffic,” she said. “And I’m like who would’ve ever thought you’d sit in traffic in Turner.”
Though she misses the more small-town feel when she was younger, she understands that towns change and grow, but says there is still a small-town feel in the community.
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