Rolfe High School Alumni Web Site: Graphic by Wendy Bennett

1928 Time Capsule
time capsule overview     1917 time capsule
The RHS class of 1928 left a time capsule in a pillar near the sidewalk at the south entrance of the Rolfe school. It was retrieved in 2006 when the three-story building was razed and is a mix of pale blue and rusted metal. The top was soldered in place, and there was a rudimentary handle made of rusted wire. Most likely, the wire was used to lower the box to the bottom of the pillar.

The box is eight-and-a-half inches wide, eight inches high, and 14 inches long. It was opened at class reunions in 1948, 1968, and 1978. On each occasion, materials were added, the container was resealed, and it was put back in the pillar.

The 1928 box and another left in the cornerstone of the building ,when it was constructed in 1917, were opened by directors of the Pocahontas Area Community School District at a public ceremony on July 8, 2006, at the Rolfe Community Center.

The 1928 box contained numerous items, including copies of the Rolfe Arrow newspaper, senior year memorabilia, correspondence among classmates in the decades following graduation, materials from various class reunions (photos, event programs, and an audio tape recorded in 1968), and a items from the class of 1978.

Several years ago, the Rolfe Arrow was microfilmed, and the editions of the paper found in the time capsule should be available on microfilm at the Pocahontas Public Library and the State Historical Society of Iowa offices in Des Moines.

We will be posting highlights only from those newspapers and will begin with material from the May 31, 1928, edition. The files will be low resolution JPEG files for screen viewing; however, they are not created to print well. Please contact RHS web site editor Helen Gunderson if you have questions, suggestions, or requests.
    

1928 CAPSULE INDEX
Latest update on January 21, 2007.

Artifact
 
Piece of marble (about one square foot in size) from the face of the pillar where the time capsule was stashed.
Term Papers
from high school
"Electricity as Power"
by Lois Jesse Brinkman (Hodoway)

"Overtones, Harmonics, and Fundamentals"
by Lawrence Quinsland

Marked Up Speech
from high school
"Lincoln: A Man Called of God"
with markings by Miss Marcum
Memorabilia
from high school
1927 junior-senior banquet

1927 junior-senior breakfast

Minutes of class meeting September 27, 1927

Football season scorecard

Lyrics to five songs

Booklet of yells and songs

Class play

Speech club program

A report card

Tin tennis trophy from class play day

Class history

Minutes of class meeting May 25, 1928

Commencement program

Rolfe Arrow
May 31, 1928
Front page articles (962 kb)
  • List of class members
  • Senior class day activities
  • Kitten ball competition
  • Study club picnic
  • Sorosis Club's mother's day luncheon
Rolfe Arrow
July 26, 1928
 
Article about dedication of two pillars at south entrance to the school
Correspondence
Round robin letters
with some photographs
 

01-03-1940 Margaret Pollock Campbell

No date (circa 1940) ~ Wavi Roberts Tonderum

12-25-19?? (circa 1940) Dorothy Bower

No date (circa 1941) ~ Daisie Lee Holt

No date (circa 1941) ~ Jim Wilson
Note: Jim and his first wife, Lillyan, had two children: Janis Sue Cerasani (RHS 1958) and Jimmy Wilson (1961). Lillyan died in 1946. Later, when Jim was president of the Rolfe school board, he fell in love with a new music teacher named Esther Moss from Hull. Jim and Esther were married in 1950. Esther is currently a resident of the Rolfe Care Center. Jim's obiturary

01-06-1941 Warren Ives

04-30-1941 Ivadelle Cleal Porter

05-13-1941 Margaret Barry Crawford

06-11-1941 Arlo Ives
Note: Arlo married Mildred Taylor, a Rolfe school teacher who grew up in Wall Lake. Arlo and Mildred farmed southwest of Rolfe and had three children: the late Carolyn Ives (RHS 1956), Sally Quigley (1958), and Dallas Ives (1963).

06-30-1941 Russel Ives

08-17-1941 Lois Brinkman Hodoway
Note: Lois married Dick Hodoway, a football star from Haywarden that she met when she taught at Morningside College. Lois and Dick eventually farmed southwest of Rolfe. They had two children: the late Steve Hodoway (RHS 1962) and Craig Hodoway (1965). Lois taught K-12 physical education in the Rolfe schools during the 1960s.

12-03-1941 Charlotte Walker Baker

12-07-1941 Edris Fisher McDonough

03-04-1942 Esther Ford Elbert

07-21-1942 Dorothy Bower

07-21-1942 Frank Cornwell

07-26-1942 Mary McEwen Nelson
Note:  Mary was married to the late LeRoy Nelson (RHS 1927). The couple farmed southeast of Rolfe and had three children: Mary Le Clark (1954), Mac Nelson (1959), and Jeanie Stowell (1962). Mary is currently a resident of the Rolfe Care Center.

No date (circa 1944) ~ Jim Wilson

06-15-1948 The Reverend J.P. Lester

06-24-1948 Daisie Lee Holt Lasalle

07-12-1948 Frank Cornwell

No date (circa 1948) ~ Arlo Ives

No date (circa 1948) ~ J. Russell Smith

Class Reunion
June 26, 1948
 
Photographs

Reunion program

Reunion minutes

Reunion report by Evelyn Ives

Reunion summary by Betty Melson

Record-Democrat coverage

Rolfe Arrow coverage July 1, 1948

Class Reunion
June 23, 1968
 
Photographs Class member addresses

Remarks by Frank Cornwell

Reunion report Rolfe Arrow Coverage June 27, 1968
 
You will need the Real Audio player to listen to these files. The free version should be sufficient.
  Audio cassette recording (click here to see a
photo of the cardboard Sony audio cassette box)

There are a few more sections of the tape that we have not published. They include short remarks by some of the spouses of the class members as well as Frank Cornwell reading from various class documents that have already been published in JPEG files. In some cases, the audio quality was not good. Please contact us if you would like us to post the remaining files. Also, please contact us if you have problems listening to the files or if you want us to make a CD of the tape and send it to you. Thanks.

Class Reunion
June 24-25, 1978
 
Photo of class at memorial pillar

Reunion program

Script for memorial service

Bulletin from Presbyterian Church service

Table decorations from dinner with class of 1978

Class of 1978   Photos submitted by Jayne Brinkman, president of the RHS class of 1978 that were in the class of 1928 time capsule
Des Moines Register
June 23, 1968
Column by Chuck Offenburger
Fort Dodge
Messenger
June 26, 1968
Report on the 1968 reunion

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