Saturday marks the first in a series of farewell events at Franklin Elementary, and attendees will get the first look at items recovered from a time capsule buried in 1955.

School officials learned about the depository, which was sealed at the time by general contractor T.R. Reiff, from an archived news article.

Franklin employee Willis Hough dug up the box on Monday, a day sooner than planned and not without drama.

“Willis felt he should try to cut away at the cornerstone before the snow hit later on Monday,” Franklin paraprofessional Brenda Eckley said. “His plan was to just remove the box, but things didn’t go that easy. He punctured the copper box with one of his digging tools and water and mud gushed out.”

Hough was able to cut the box open and salvage much of the contents, which will be unveiled Saturday during a reunion/open house held from 9 a.m. to noon at the school.

For Saturday’s event, the school is welcoming back students from 1955-69. Later classes will have their own reunions during different celebrations.

“The first year for the school was 1955, so we’re giving an opportunity for the students and staff from that point up until 1969 to come in and reminisce,” Eckley said. “I know a lot of the staff are excited to see their former students and everyone gets a chance to see what the building looks like now in its final year.”

Eckley said the school has already received a large quantity of photos from its alumni.

The school cost $500,000 when built and housed all elementary students from the joined Franklin and Franklin Independent school districts.

Franklin, along with Lehighton’s three other elementary schools, are closing at the end of the school year. A new elementary center, which will house all K-5 students, is opening adjacent to the high school for the 2018-19 school year.

Other farewell events

The second event, scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon for May 5, will feature former students and staff from 1990-2005.

During those years, Franklin staff members, students and volunteers helped stitch a 7-by-8-foot American flag “comfort quilt.” Eckley presented the quilt to President George W. Bush in the Oval Office in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

On May 26, from 9 a.m. to noon, students and staff from 1970-89 are invited back to Franklin for an event that will include a short memorial service.

The service will include former students of Larry Hill. Hill, a former teacher, chaired a project to build a memorial for the people from Franklin Township who died in conflicts.

The celebration will wrap up on the night before the last scheduled day of school from 6 to 9 p.m. June 6. All Franklin students from 2006-18 are asked to participate in the event. At the conclusion, four students from each grade level and 10 staff members will release 63 Chinese fire lanterns, one for each year the school was open, into the sky.