LOUDON COUNTY, Tenn. — Mandi Wolfe and her sons sit inside her downtown Loudon office on Friday afternoon as they fill out detailed questionnaires to place inside the county's 2020 time capsule.
"What's your favorite dance?" Wolfe reads from the template. "The floss?"
"That is so 2019," her sons laugh in response.
Loudon County is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a time capsule that won't be opened until 2070.
"The idea of going back and seeing who you were and what you thought and what was cool at the time, it is really fun. 2020, there's going to be a lot to look back on," Wolfe said.
This won't be the first time capsule for the county. In 1970, they buried a coffin filled with memorabilia, but water damaged all of its contents by the time it was opened in 2020.
This time, Rachel Harrell, director of tourism for the country, said they're not taking any chances.
"There are going to be three of them, three-foot boxes with glass tops so that people can view the items that are within them. Hopefully, they will be located here in our newly restored Loudon County Courthouse," Harrell said about the decision not to bury the 2020 capsule underground.
Because of the pandemic, the county is hosting a drive-thru event instead of a traditional ceremony. Residents can drop their time capsule items off on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the parking lot of the Courthouse Annex on Mulberry Street in Loudon.
Harrell also created several templates that people can print that ask a series of different questions depending on your age group. Harrell said they'll most likely put a face mask inside of the box and encourages anyone who celebrated a milestone in 2020, to share that as well.
"If you got married like me this year, you could put your wedding invitation inside," Harell suggested.
You can also email your letters to 150yearsofloco@gmail.com.