For the first chapter in this drama, see here.

Saturday, September 5th, 2009.

The closer it got to the start of the celebration, the more nervous I became. There really is no way to predict how an event like this will run.

We were setting up a few finishing touches on the decorations when people began to arrive – exactly one hundred years since the box was sealed and the cornerstone was set. One lady who came was four months shy of her 100th birthday. I’m glad we had someone with a camera to interview her. Many former members came back, and a lot of curious people from the community helped us celebrate.

At 6:30 the crowd swelled to over 320 at the southeast corner of the building, spilling into the parking lot. The box had been put in place and the stone was covering it, ready for the ceremony. The TV cameras rolled and this wonderful piece of theatre began. The night was coming off well.

The bishop stood on a stepladder to address the crowd. Everywhere you turned people were ready with their cameras and eyes and memory to record the event from every angle.

The bishop read from the 1909 news article I had given him and announced the expected contents of the box.

President D. Robert Hennefer of the Park Stake climbed up and hefted the stone down while the crowd inched forward. Shutters clicked and TV cameras rolled but could not capture the excitement hanging in the air like a wispy cloud. When the bishop pulled the box out and held it up with a flourish, the people clapped and cheered.

He tilted it forward to give everyone a glimpse, and then started holding up the items one by one and giving the crowd a long look before passing them to Scott Christensen (from the Church archives), who put them in a display case. Scott and I carried the case inside and talked excitedly about the treasures. I started taking pictures furiously with my camera and the people began to flow in and “disappeared” the cake.

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There were ten items in the box:

1. A Holy Bible sealed with a one-hundred-year-old elastic band. Nobody dared try to remove it because it was so fragile (this must be the sealed portion of the scriptures).

2. A 1908 Book of Mormon, the first edition of that small size (Scott says they’re quite rare).

3. A Doctrine and Covenants, copyright 1910. Its inclusion in the box suggests it was one of the very first copies off the press.

4. A hymnal – lots of hymns not in use any more.

5. Names of the 1909 bishopric on a piece of Salt Lake Temple stationery. The engraving is exquisite.

6. Names and ages of the priests in the ward, written on a piece of paper.

7. A Tenth Ward Sunday School roll book – a unique item, for sure.

8. A Liberty Stake directory. 1909 is really early for a directory like that, and this could be an important document for local history.

9. A short history of the ward, three pages, written by “EMC.”

10. The business card of the man who built the box. Nothing wrong with promoting your business – I hope it helped him after 100 years!

Sunday after our meetings, Bishop Berger let me get a closer look at the documents. I asked Kai Jorgensen and his sister Alissa, both very bright and eager young scholars, to help with these photos. They were thrilled to hold a bit of history and see the artifacts close up. Thank you to them.

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If any of you were there and took pictures please send me a copy for inclusion in a collection to be put in the Church Archives. (jsoderborg21 [at sign] hotmail [dot] com) — include your name, and please identify as many of the people in the shots as you can.

See here for a gallery of additional photographs.