Untitled Document

ITD's 25-year time capsule full of memories, peculiarities of the late '80s

This is the first of two parts regarding the contents of the capsule. This first part explores WHO was inside (photos) - next week's story will explore WHAT was inside (memorabilia).

Watch a video of the unearthing

Given a quarter-century of hindsight, the items unearthed from ITD’s 1989 time capsule Tuesday (Dec. 9) provided an atmosphere of nostalgia and amusement. The capsule was unearthed at 9 a.m. from the corner of the department's East Annex parking lot, in the same location where it was buried as part of a dedication of a grove of trees donated by the University of Idaho’s forestry department for their centennial celebration. Trees were planted in all 44 Idaho counties as part of that effort.

The time capsule, a section of conduit three feet long and 10 inches in diameter, was glued shut. The end was cut open, and 25 years of memories spilled onto a dark blue tarp used as a dropcloth.

Along with many old photos and department memorabilia, there also were laughable newspaper headlines comparing Jose Canseco to Willie Mays, an advertisement for now-defunct Yugo vehicles, a Transporter with a lead article about office romance – ironically right next to an article titled “Good Ideas” – and a “Highwaymen” calendar featuring the men of ITD 25 years ago.

A Friday-evening television guide was also preserved, showing long-deceased programs like Dallas, Falcon Crest and Miami Vice, and the still-thriving Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.

Big hair, mullets, acid- or stone-washed jeans, ladies’ shirts with shoulder pads — iconic symbols of the era — were in abundance in the pictures and advertisements stowed in the time capsule.

Also prominent were newspaper articles about Bush senior beating Dukakis for the Presidency, the AIDS epidemic, home loans at 9.5 percent interest, and locally about the just-passed-by-voters state lottery system.

“All the materials were well preserved in a watertight container,” said Gary Sanderson, who attended the burial of the time capsule 25 years ago and for the unearthing today. “All except the bag of microwave popcorn - its oil was quite rancid,” he explained.

Sanderson had been with ITD for three years, and was an Engineer-in-Training in the Design section in 1988. He is now a Technical Engineer 2 (traffic engineer) and, interestingly, back in the Design/Traffic section.

The event had a family feel to it, with 40 to 50 mostly longtime employees, as well as those since retired and a contingent from the Idaho State Police, surrounding the time capsule’s contents. ISP shared space with the transportation department back then, first near where the Print Shop is today, and then near Motor Vehicles to provide an armed presence to defuse heated discussions about titles and licenses.

The time capsule was one of two buried back then — the second container is to remain intact until 2090. The opening of the time capsule today corresponds to U of I’s 125th anniversary. The opening of the older capsule Dec. 9, 2090 is to correspond to Idaho’s bi-centennial.

Reymundo Rodriguez helped bury that container of history years ago. He was just 23 when the effort was immortalized in a photograph published in the February 1989 issue of ITD's Transporter.

Rodriguez is now the Idaho Motor Carrier Services Manager, but was a Data Entry Operator for the Accounting unit a quarter-century ago. When asked his memories of that day, Mundo says, “it was a long time ago, but I remember that there were quite a few people there and the mood was festive as we buried the time capsule. They allowed people to come up and put a bit of dirt on the capsule if they wanted. It seemed like folks felt that 2014 was a very long way off — it is surprising to me how quickly the years went by.”

Rodriguez unfortunately did not get an opportunity to be at the unearthing Tuesday, and added, “I don’t think I will be around for the next one.”“We had many fond memories of retired friends pictured from long ago,” said Sanderson. “We were all younger then and most of us were thinner,” he quipped.

In a paying-it-forward moment, Sanderson added “as I read about various policies and practices from 25 years ago, I wonder what will be the legacy of the department we leave for the next generation."

Pictured directly above are images from the original dedication a quarter-century ago.

Who was found inside

(Seated) Dick Hedges, Norm Edwards, Jack Sparks

(Standing) Dave Couch, Jim Farrens, Kevin McCulley, Sandy Howell, Kay Montgomery, Dixie Soderling

Seated Left to Right
Ray Bake, Floyd Crichton, Nick Peterson, Don Rhodes

2nd row up left to right
Lue Bier, Sherry Hann, Linda Slupe, Tri Buu, Roger Tipton, Mike Ryan, Nick Meyers

Third Row
Micky Vail, Ev Kidner, Jim Welch , Phil White, Dave Turner, Tom Saczynski, John Weathers

Roadway Design Staff

Front row, left to right, kneeling:
Lynn Kramer, Trans. Tech. Sr.; George Tracadas, Utilities engineer;
Roy Jost, Envr. Planner; Rob Tiedemann, Principal Envr. Planner; Charlie Roundtree, Planning Section Supv.

Middle row:
Larry Van Over, Area Engineer; Lynn Bowes, Trans. Tech. Sr.; Karry Fischer, Engineer-in-Training; Tom Chapman, Illustrator; Frances Bodiford, Clerical Specialist; Chick Yates, Trans. Staff engr. Asst.; Sharon Bates, Secretary/Office Coordinator; John Collins, Trans. Staff Engr. Asst.; Mike Ryan, Trans. Tech. Sr. ; Ivanka Rebensteiger, Trans. Tech.

Back Row:
Dick Sorensen, Roadway Design Supv.; Gib Dehlin, Trans. Tech. Princ.; Jack Masitis, Trans. Tech Princ.; Linda Cassera, Tech Typist; Ron Dehlin, Water Resource Engineer; Miles Miller, Trans. Tech. Princ.; Milford Miller, Location Engineer; Bob Elvin, Area Engineer.

Word Processing Section

Mary Hansen, Nona Wrobel, Pam Stanley

Internal Review

Carri Bello, Richard Menz, Pam Newland, Bob Elliott, Bob Medley

Traffic Section

First Row: Douglas C. Anderson, Scott D. Merrill, Michael P. McGuire, Patrick K Fuller, David J. Cook, David E. Jennings

Second Row: Don C. Sandifer, Daniel F. Barrera, Julie G. Pough, Elmer A. Kassens , Terence W. McAdams, Deborah A. Dugger, Cynthia L. Mendoza, Grace C. Chisholm, Max N Jensen

Back Row: Michael R, Boydstun, Lawrence J. Robinson, Larry C. Newlun, Brett J. Purvis, Ronald E. Loughmiller, B. Mitchel Latta, W. Dan McComb, Gordon E. Prouty, Joe E. Couch

Craig Nelsen, Joe Stahl -- Bridge Crew

Maintenance Section

Front Row: Steve Spoor, Jeff Edwards, Marsha Webb, Frank Kerby, Bill Froscher
Next Row: Ron Mackelprang, Greg Laragan, Jim Porter, Doug Chase, Walter Jones
Next Row: Clayton Sullivan, Jeff Miles, Melba Bentley, John Rinard, Reggie Phipps, Linda Sonnenberg, Mary Sayers, Kim Randall, Bryan Smith, Lou Olaso, Sherrild Mills, Dave Mecham
Back Row: Jim Stearns, Bill Edwards, Cesar Quijano

P&MM Section

Kneeling: Bart Jensen, Helen Benson, Kim Campbell, Tom Gilmore
Standing: Doug Schneider, Margie Funk, Nicki Boester, Jamie Zolber, Morgan Marshall, Jim Cunningham, Rod Becker, Betty Wilson, Ann Post, Glen Lusk

Jim Stocker, Doug Marsters -- Bridge Crew

Walt Jones, Reao Weaver (unable to verify name) -- Bridge Crew

Joe King, Bridge Crew, and (l to r) Mark Becker, Don Welcome

Motor Vehicles Administration

Back Row, Left to Right
Joe Sturtevant, Research Analyst-Senior: Candy Smith, Technical Unit Supervisor; Donna Putz, Administrative Assistant; Audria Dick, Technical Typist
Front Row, Left to Right
Linda Fisk, Office Secretary; Sheila Ison, Technical Writer

Bridge Design Section

Front Row, L to R: Bryan Smith; Tina Brown; Denney Twitchell; Dennis Glynn; William Nemeth

Second Row, L to R: Kenneth Clausen; Arthur Larson; Warren Hostetler; Frank Smith; Kathleen Slinger; Hardy Lee

Third Row, L to R: Ed Hohrein; Terry Regan; Carol Clark; Marvin Fallon; Ronald Heck; Bruce Dustrude; James Feeney; Michael Ebright; Luis Zarate

Fourth Row L to R: Roger Barker; Richard Jensen; Matthew Farrar; Thomas Pfister; Robert Newell; Annette Breyen; Richard Jobes; Sherwin “Smokey” Beaman

Not Pictured: Tore Borgeson

Central Files

(back) Pat Marler, Reynaldo Garcia
(front) Jeri Salois, Jill Randall, Daisy Webb, and Eva Reed

The Print Shop

John Gibson, Paul Bockmann, Lawrence Patterson, Chuck Webb, Denice _ ede (full name unreadable) and Carla McColly

Civil Rights Section

Left to Right:
Lee Mundell – Contract Compliance Officer
Bernie Forstner – Civil Rights Supervisor
Ginny Tsu - Civil Rights/ Affirmative Action Officer

Motor Vehicle Accounting

Back Row: Diana Hendrix, Margaret Ransom, Dottie Jordan, Elizabeth Slaughter, Marty Lytle, Reymundo Rodriquez.

Middle Row: Debbie Delaune, Debbie Roberts, Patty Thomas, Annie Dailey, Glenda Naylor, Cheryl Becker, Chris Stuart, Kathy Barker, Sherrie Marquez.

Front Row: Phyllis Phillips, Cher Wheless, (Michael Wheless), Pat Nelson, Natalie Edl, Evelyn Schultz, Don Huston.

Not Present: Ron Pelkey, Rene Glenn, Cleo Bailey, Wanda Lewis.

Personnel Section

L to R Seated: Richard “Dick” Transtrum, Personnel Supervisor; Heather Heasley, Records Clerk; Ken Wieneke, Senior Personnel Analyst; Judy Willey, Secretary Office Coordinator.

L to R Standing: Linda Salinas, Clerical Specialist; Cheryl Rost, Safety Program Loss Control Coordinator; Karen Janak, Personnel Technician; Marie Campbell, Personnel Program Coordinator.

Information Systems & Data Processing Section

First Row (Left to Right)
Dean Barton, Grant Farnworth, John Herrick Mary Kroll, Cameron Boldman.

Second Row (Left to Right)
Mark Richardson, John Hurst, Dave Hall, Helen Ostrogorsky, Charlie Winfrey, Randy Hall, Mike Gravenmier, Jeff Borup.

Third Row (Left to Right)
Dee Tonning, Nevada Boyenger, Becky McCandlish, Sharon Cooper, Bernadene Waltman, Sherri Durham, Pam Broadwater, Leona Conway, Jeff Kopsa, Ron Peterson

Fourth Row (Left to Right)
Chuck Barrett, Chuck Aitchison, Chauncey Hood, Gary Myers, Chuck Cullum, Chuck Gervais, Jim Csencsits, Darrell Irwin, Carol Barton, Ray Volkers, Phil Braun, Sam Cole.

Transportation Services/Admin. Support

Judy Fisk, Clerical Specialist
Carrie Holman, General Typist
Sue Kaufman, Secretary/Records Manager
Lola Bryant, Secretary/Records Manager
Diane Olsen, Secretary/ Office Coordinator
Sharon Cooper, Secretary/ Office Coordinator
Hugh F. Lydston, Chief of Transportation Services
Mary Lou Brown, Transportation Services Office Manager

Building Services

Front Row
Ken Kirkland, Allen Reich, Randy Harris, Dennis Soulsby

Center Row
Jerry Cline, Mac McGowan, Ron Bouwens

Back Row
George Alderson, Al Griffin, Rick Metzger

Idaho Transportation Department Board

Marion Davidson, John M. Ohman, and Phil Batt. 1988 Sinclair Studios