It’s shaping up to be a very merry 150th birthday for Leflore County.
Perhaps there won’t be a cake and candles, but the county will be opening a gift — one it gave itself 50 years ago.
A time capsule buried in the courthouse lawn will be unearthed at 2 p.m. Monday in observance of the county’s sesquicentennial.
Two canisters, each holding items placed by county residents, were buried in 1971 at the base of the Confederate monument as part of the commemoration of the county’s 100th year. One will be opened Monday, and the second will be saved for 50 years in the future.
One Greenwood resident who is looking forward to this celebration is Johnny Favara.
Favara, a retired garden center owner, said he remembers being there the day the capsules were buried, but he and his wife, Nettie, can’t remember what they put in them.
“Probably photos and maybe a message, but I don’t know. I can’t remember,” he said, laughing, although he added that he has a slight memory of putting some 1971 coins into a capsule.
Leflore County officials bury two time capsules in 1971, one of which will be opened Monday at 2 p.m. (Courtesy of Donny Whitehead)
According to an article in the Commonwealth at that time, people could buy large envelopes for $1 and put personal items in them for one or both capsules.
This project was one of many events put on by the county to honor the centennial. A weeklong celebration that included parades, pageants, displays of old cars and more took place throughout the area. Citizens were encouraged to dress in period clothing from the late 1800s, and many of the men grew out beards to look the part.
“We were all pretty excited. ... And it was very, very interesting. And we all grew beards. We all wore these outfits,” Favara said while holding a photo of himself, his wife, his daughter, Elizabeth, and his friend, Dan Weeks, dressed in bowler hats and bonnets.
Now 82, Favara was in his 30s at the time the capsules were buried.
“I said to myself, ‘Well, it’s going to be hard to live that long, but I think that I might make it!’ And now we’re all looking forward to it,” he said.
The county was established in 1871 during the Reconstruction era and was named for Greenwood Leflore, the Choctaw chief and state senator.
Like the rest of the nation, the county has gone through drastic changes, which local historian Donny Whitehead said are important to consider.
“People 50 years ago wanted to leave memories of that day for their family, to open up with company and show what things were like back then,” he said.
Johnny Favara holds up a photo of himself, his wife Nettie, his daughter Elizabeth and his friend Dan Weeks dressed in period clothing as well a button handed out during the centennial celebration in 1971. (Adam Bakst)
Whitehead did not put anything into the capsules, but he believes that regardless of whether people contributed, revealing the contents will interest local people.
“Those kinds of things are always interesting to see what things were like a long time ago,” Whitehead said.
Although he was present and taking photos, he faintly remembers only one item that was placed inside.
“I know the telephone company may have put a phone in there,” he said with a chuckle. “I guess they wanted to show people what phones looked like back then.”
And for Favara, phones are just one thing he thought about when reflecting on changes over time, but he remembers fondly sitting around and talking with friends about what Leflore County would look like after five decades.
“I think we all think that the future is going to be that everything will be completely different; 50 years sounded like forever,” he said. “We had no idea about some things. Now, we do have cellphones, we do have computers, and of course, we did not have those things then. ...We all talked about all those types of things.”
One of the capsules is being saved for the county’s 200th birthday celebration. But Favara said he is not making predictions that are too far-fetched about what the county will look like in 2071.
“I feel like we’ll all have electric cars. That’s the only thing I know for sure,” he joked.
A time capsule, buried near the Confederate monument at the Leflore County Courthouse, will be unearthed Monday at 2 p.m. in observance of the county’s sesquicentennial. (Adam Bakst)
Similarly, Ginger Gregg, a Greenwood resident who used to work at the courthouse, said she had a distinct memory of providing items while a student at Davis Elementary but doesn’t remember what they were.
“Everybody in the school put something in that capsule,” she said.
Gregg said she understands that she isn’t the only Davis alum excited to see the big reveal. She has heard that some of her friends who have since moved away are coming back to their hometown just to watch it.
“I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of people that are wanting to come back to Greenwood to see the capsule opened up and see what all they put in there at that time,” she said.
Hopefully, she said, the items in there can be displayed in a good location, such as the Museum of the Mississippi Delta.
She said this historic participation was a special moment for her, and she encourages future generations to take part in something similar.
“I think all students should be doing it at every school,” Gregg said.
Hank Hargrove, a former owner of Delta Distributing Co., is now 65, but remembers himself at 15 buying an envelope and putting a cherished possession in there.
“I put a photo of my then-girlfriend in there,” he said. “I don’t remember what else, but that was definitely put in there.”
Hargrove said he and his fellow Explorer Post members, an affiliate of the Boy Scouts of America, all participated in the project. But when he reached out to old friends, they couldn’t remember what kind of artifacts they had placed.
“I am curious to find out what exactly I did put in there and also what my friends did as well,” he said.
He also said he appreciates that the Leflore County Board of Supervisors is honoring its predecessors’ wishes by opening the capsule this month and letting people reflect. In 1971, thinking 50 years ahead was never an option for a young Hank.
“I wasn’t thinking much about it at 15; you’re thinking about today,” he said.
- Contact Adam Bakst at 581-7233 or abakst@gwcommonwealth.com. On Twitter at @AdamBakst_GWCW.
