Atop the 100 Steps of Federation at Truganina Park, watched over by the “Time Beacon” artwork by Cameron Robbins, Rotary Altona City’s Hobsons Bay Millennium Time Capsule lay buried for 25 years, safely holding messages from over 12,000 people. During the last 18 months, a team from Rotary Altona City and the Hobsons Bay Council worked collaboratively to open the capsule and re-connect with the 30 schools and contributors involved 25 years ago.
The joint project team decided Rotary would re-engage schools in Hobsons Bay and the general community, while Council Officers would take responsibility for opening the capsule as it was sited on what had been a Council tip.Rotary Altona City staged two Public Time Capsule Exhibitions, the first on Australia Day 2025, where over 3,000 people visited a local shopping centre, and the second as a signature event during the 4-week Hobsons Bay Heritage Festival.
Each Hobsons Bay school had contributed its own mini-capsule and collectively they contained over 12,000 messages for the future. At an event on Friday 02 May 2025, the opened capsules were formally presented to Hobsons Bay school representatives, by the Mayor, Cr. Daria Kellander, after addresses by The Hon. Melissa Horne, Member for Williamstown and Rotary President, Lenore Thornton.
A key part of Rotary’s Community Engagement was the commissioning of an inspirational 1.5 minute video by local producer Rose Damon, with a voice over by former Rotarian Bernadette Schwerdt. The time capsule video can be downloaded here.
The International Time Capsule Society (located at a University in Atlanta, USA) discovered this project via local media and commented “It is inspiring to see the scale and thoughtfulness behind your initiative to reconnect contributors with their messages and create a curated display.”
Top Right: Opening the time capsule; Below left to right: time capsule burial site; Hobsons Bay Mayor, Cr. Daria Kellander (holding the Council’s mini-capsule) with three Councillors and Altona City Rotarians on Australia Day 2025. Bottom left to right: mini-capsules belonging to Hobsons Bay schools; Group photo with DG Michael at the special event on 02 May 2025 | |
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