Livermore whiffs in time capsule search
Wednesday June 09, 1999
By Sean Holstege STAFF WRITER
LIVERMORE -- You had to feel a little sympathy for the men in orange vests.
For two weeks, city groundskeepers have poked the turf of Centennial Park and waved their metal detectors over its surface. The have dug and filled and, in some cases, re-dug six holes in the ground.
And, still, no time capsule.
On Tuesday, they tried again to locate the mysterious relic.
About 40 people watched the latest effort, more than typically show up for a City Council meeting on a slow night. As local work crews, treasure hunters and history buffs explored the area around the park's totem pole, passers-by honked, hollered and hooted from their cars.
"We found it. It's under Donut Wheel," shouted one.
Granada High School was on lunch break.
"Third time's a charm," shouted another.
Actually, no. Neither was the fourth. Or the fifth. Or the sixth hole.
There was a moment of excitement when Bob Howard's Depth Plus metal detector started whistling, buzzing and squealing like R2-D2.
A 2-foot hole revealed something solid.
"It could be a 15-inch gas (line). In which case, we'll all meet in heaven," one worker said.
Searchers did find three pieces of rusty metal: a loop, a 4-inch-square sheet and a 10-inch bar. After that, the metal detectors went silent.
Barry Schrader, who convinced the city to unearth the Centennial Time Capsule, said it's time to bring in the Navy. A unit stationed in Vallejo helped sheriff's deputies near Sacramento find unexploded bombs in a rail yard there last year, using technology similar to ultra-sound, explained Mike Miller, Livermore's Public Works director.
The treasure hunters haven't given up, yet, though.
"If it's there, we'll find it," said Jack Isacoff of the Mount Diablo Metal Detecting Club.
If it's there.
Tuesday night, he planned to ask the 100-member club to send about a dozen people with metal detectors to the Livermore park. Isacoff said the club helps police find lost evidence by fanning out and methodically scouring an area section by section.
One mystery might have been cleared up Tuesday. Schrader and others don't actually know what's in the capsule. A 1974 Herald photo shows volunteers preparing to fill a canister, which resembles an old milk churn, with a bumper sticker, a bottle of Livermore wine and some beer mugs.