In July of 2014, Morro Bay celebrated 50 years as an incorporated city and 150 years as a town. Residents enjoyed a full year of fun-filled events to commemorate this special anniversary.
Many of these events focused on the natural beauty of Morro Bay. Participants took a New Year’s Day hike that started at Morro Rock, set out on two wheels for an eco-friendly Historical Bike Tour, planted trees at the Monarch Mixer, participated in a volunteer cleanup, and more.
When the celebration came to a close last Friday, July 17, it made its own mark on history: the Historical Society of Morro Bay, in partnership with The Morro Bay 50th Celebration Committee and the City of Morro Bay, buried a time capsule to commemorate Morro Bay as it is today.
The ceremony began with a short series of heartfelt remarks from the people who made the time capsule project possible.
Linda Estes, the President of the Historical Society of Morro Bay, reminded attendees that the idea for the time capsule had been hatched at the Founders’ Day picnic one year ago to the day.
Morro Bay’s Mayor, Jamie Irons, thanked the Historical Society, the 50th Celebration Committee, and the crew of city workers who were set to bury the time capsule.
Joan Solu of the Morro Bay 50th Celebration Committee discussed the importance of preserving artifacts of today’s Morro Bay for residents 50 years from now. She reminded the crowd that 500 people worked on the year-long celebration—a testament to locals’ love for their town.
Then, Roger Castle of the Historical Society sealed the time capsule, put it in a protective marked casing, and handed operations over to the city crew. Roger had a key role in the time capsule project, converting all submissions to a digital format and assembling the final product. He says the project is important because, “history is memory,” and the more that we can provide places for memories to be gathered and corrected, the better off we are.
The capsule contains about 40 items submitted by local organizations, businesses, and individuals. 11 of those items are CDs, which hold a wealth of documents, photographs, and other data that capture the essence of Morro Bay as it is today.
The Estuary Program was pleased to add copies of our Bay Story videos, our Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan—which outlines our work to protect and restore the estuary, and our 2014 State of the Bay report to the time capsule. We hope that residents of Morro Bay will enjoy and learn from these artifacts 50 years from now.
We will have succeeded in our work if the Morro Bay estuary is at least as clean, healthy, and well-loved in 2065 as it is today.