Feature Writing - Writer's Choice: LBCC Opens1993 25-Year Time Capsule at 50 Year Anniversary

In 1993, Bill Clinton was president, gas was $1.60 a gallon, you could buy a brand new house for $130K in Albany, and a 25 year time capsule was buried in the courtyard at LBCC.

“Anyone remember what this is?” asked Jon Carnahan, former president of LBCC, as he held up a VHS tape. He had just removed it from the time capsule which was unearthed last week on Wednesday, May 16. It marks the 50th Anniversary of LBCC.

Many LBCC representatives, old and new attended the event. Bob Ross, LBCC's first full-time staff member who still teaches today; Russel Tripp, LBCC Founding Board Member; Jon Carnahan, previous president of LBCC; Greg Hamann, current LBCC president were all familiar faces at the event.

Trisha Melcher attended the event because she was a student at LBCC in 1993 and her daughter Mandy Melcher was at the child care center at the time.

Some of the things in the time capsule showed how much the world has changed in 25 years. A floppy disk, homemade cassette tape and an LB school phone number list are good examples of that.

Other things from the capsule, like giant textbooks and an HP printer ink cartridge that look extremely similar to the ones used today, show the world hasn’t changed as much as one might think.

A new time capsule was buried the same day, set to be dug up in 2043 to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of LBCC. People were asked ahead of time to make suggestions of what to put in the new time capsule.

LBCC President Greg Hamann's favorite of the items to be buried are a bottle of Roadrunner Red IPA from Deluxe Brewing and a baseball signed by the LBCC 30-consecutive-game winning baseball team.

The complete list of items that were put into the new capsule included LBCC’s mission/ core themes/ values, pennant, Roadrunner Red IPA, baseball signed by the 30-game winning streak LBCC baseball team, viewbook, schedule of classes, marketing materials, 50th anniversary button, Rocky the Roadrunner plush, fidget spinner, 2017 solar eclipse items, aerial photos of campus, Commuter student paper from May 16, part of the old gym floor, recent news headlines, gold medal from classified appreciation day, Democrat Herald from May 16, fast facts about LBCC, inspired t-shirt, drawing by LBCC Cooperative Preschool, and 49 issues of The Commuter 1970-2018 digital.

Juried Student Art Show Reception at LBCC

Photo by Alex Gaub
Michael Bosch poses next to his painting of a Corvallis frat house that displays the word "RAPE" in Greek style letters.


"Whenever the spring semester rolls around, I get so excited. I get to see the fantastic work of student artist," said Anne Magratten, Gallery Mentor.

Art students, faculty, and guests gathered to partake in the Juried Art Student Show award ceremony on Friday afternoon. The gallery features art from current or recent LBCC students with a wide range of style, mediums, and content.

Local artists, art groups, and school officials and faculty awarded students with different types of prizes. The President's Purchase Award is an award in which the president of LBCC chooses one piece to purchase and keep in LBCC's permanent collection, and is used for artistic resource. President Greg Hamann couldn't pick just one this year so he chose two.

"One of the things I find is I always learn something when I do this. It challenges my definition of art when choosing a piece. You enrich our lives," said Hamann. Sin Melendez and the Commuter's very own Angela Scott were honored with the award this year.

People viewing the gallery during the weeks prior to the event had the opportunity to partake by voting on which piece they liked best for the People's Choice Award. This was awarded to Michael Bosch's Frat House painting which featured bold red greek style letters spelling out "RAPE" on a monochromatic Corvallis frat house.

The event wrapped up with Magratten announcing the Student Gallery Coordinators for next year. Michael Bosch will be spending a second year as a Student Gallery Coordinator, and James-Harley Parr will be taking Sin Melendez's place to work alongside Bosch.

Veteran's Garden Blooms at LBCC

The Veterans Garden at LBCC presents a new opportunity to learn and grow.

Established in the fall of the 2017-18 school year, the garden provides a space for veterans, and their friends and family to learn how to grow their own food.

The space created was a vision of former student Lisa Akers. “She wanted to set up a farm because she thinks it’s important for vets to be involved in more than just classes,” said Steve Olsen, vice president of the Veterans Club.

The garden was built through donated time and materials. It includes 10 raised garden beds, a garden shed, and a greenhouse. Most of the materials came from Home Depot. Coastal Farms donated the mats for the inside of the greenhouse. A local company based outside of Brownsville called Adaptive Seeds donated the seeds to start growing vegetables.

LBCC dedicated the piece of ground for the garden, which had to be flattened to be used.

There are mostly vegetables being grown in the garden, but maybe eventually strawberries and other fruits will be grown too. “It’s easiest for us to grow annuals,” said Miriam Edell.

Edell oversees the garden. “My job, I think, is to be the organizer, bringing people together and teaching.” She is part of the Agricultural Sciences staff at LBCC and is the only paid member of the garden workings. Other folks who are involved in the garden are donating their time to lend a hand.

Anyone who is a veteran, or friend or family member of a veteran is welcome to volunteer to work in the garden.

Free workshops are offered to anyone who would like to participate. They happen once a month on a Tuesday from noon to 12:50 p.m. at the garden. Brooke Edmunds, horticulture specialist from the OSU Extension Service, teaches the classes. The upcoming workshops include May 15, “Let's Talk Tomatoes,”; June 12, “Growing Culinary Herbs”; July 17, “What to Plant for a Fall and Winter Garden.”

Edell extended an invitation to veterans and their friends and family to work in the garden with her. Work in the garden currently takes place on Tuesdays, with the hopes of gaining enough volunteers to be able to do work several days a week.

At a Glace:

Contact Miriam Edell for more information via email at edellm@linnbenton.edu