Youngwood centennial time capsule yields mystery VHS, sparks school memories

The first step will be finding a working VHS player.

Then the question is: Will the 25-year-old videocassette still play?

Most of the items pulled Friday from Youngwood’s 1999 centennial time capsule were souvenirs from that celebration or from earlier town milestones.

Some paper items, including a centennial cookbook, were damp and worse for wear when they were revealed to those attending the capsule’s opening and other festivities at the borough complex timed for Youngwood’s 125th anniversary.

The item that was a true puzzle was a VHS tape sealed in a plastic bag.

While there were written greetings from previous borough officials, it wasn’t immediately clear what images and sounds were preserved on the videocassette.

Mary Ann Klingensmith, 86, vice president of the town’s 125th anniversary committee, also was part of the earlier centennial committee, but she wasn’t involved in the videotaping session.

One thing she’s sure of: when it comes time to re-inter the capsule with newer items, for another opening in 2049, she intends to include a DVD recording of the 2014 demolition of Youngwood’s former high school.

“I do have a DVD player somewhere,” she said. “The people 25 years from now will have to figure out how to work one.”

A town history book created during the centennial was another of the unearthed items. Organizers of the 125th celebration plan to have an updated book ready for distribution next year.

Youngwood’s former high school, now the site of a playground, and the nearby elementary school, which has given way to the borough offices and library, remain touchstones for many town residents.

Three of the oldest living alumni of the high school were honored at Friday’s ceremonies: Eleanor Hamrock, a member of the Class of 1945; Joseph Peoria, Class of 1947; and Marilynn Beck Brown, Class of 1949.

Brown said some of her happiest days were when she was growing up attending Youngwood’s schools.

At high school dances, she said, “They played songs where you could understand the singer.” One of her favorites singers then was Nat King Cole.

“After the dance, we would go to one of the places that sold ice cream,” she recalled.

In grade school, Brown dreaded fire drills, when the students practiced escaping from the second floor using a tunnel-like chute.

She found the strange slide frightening.

“But the boys didn’t mind,” she said.

Brown enjoyed a close relationship with one of her elementary teachers — Miss Marie Boyle, who became Mrs. Kelly when she married.

“We got our money together and collected $10 to get her a wedding gift,” Brown said.

When World War II arrived and Kelly’s husband went into the service, Brown spent many nights at the teacher’s home keeping her company.

There was an extra incentive for the visits. “We always had candy bars her husband sent home from the PX,” Brown said.

After attending secretarial school in Pittsburgh, Brown worked for several years at one of Youngwood’s past major employers — Robertshaw, which produced thermostats.

She quit when she married and started her own family, but remained active volunteering for community organizations, including Scouting groups and a local recreation organization. She has served as a judge of elections in her Youngwood precinct and remains active with the local Lions club.

Featured speaker Dr. Thomas J. Martin, a 1952 Youngwood High graduate and professor emeritus of Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, spoke about the accomplishments of a number of other Youngwood natives.

That includes the school’s 1944 football team, which achieved a record of 7-1-1 and produced George Blanda, a quarterback and kicker who scored 2,002 points in a 26-season pro football career.

Though Robertshaw moved away and many other former businesses are gone, Martin praised the perseverance of the town and its residents.

“None of these businesses are here anymore,” he said, “but you still have the ability to adapt and change and be so resilient.”