Barbara Brott flew in from California to read a sixth-grade essay she hadn't seen in half a century. It had been sealed behind a brick in Winnetka's City Hall since 1976.

Hundreds of residents gathered on the Village Green on Saturday, July 4, for the opening of Winnetka's 50-year time capsule, a ceremony the village planned as part of the national America 250 celebration. The capsule, placed during the country's bicentennial, contained aerial photographs of the community, a "USA 200" license plate, city official medallions and Brott's first-place essay on the Bill of Rights.

Brott, who has lived in California for 20 years, said she hesitated when her brother Lawrence first invited her.

"I was thinking, 'Oh my gosh, that's a long trip from California,'" Brott told The Record North Shore. "But then, the more I thought about it … this only happens once in a lifetime."

On the steps of City Hall, she read the essay aloud. Written when she was in sixth grade, it argued for the importance of the Fifth Amendment and called for changes to the Second Amendment in response to gun violence. The crowd on the green listened as words written by an 11-year-old in 1976 echoed across 50 years.

Winnetka Historical Society President Carrie Hoza led the ceremony. She asked the audience whether anyone had attended the 1976 opening of a still-older capsule, one sealed in 1926. Only a handful raised their hands.

Among them were Carol and Edwin Read, who have lived in Winnetka for 57 years. Carol Read remembered the 1976 event vividly: the weather, her children, the parade.

"I'm so glad we're here," Carol Read said. "We've lived in this village for 57 years, raised our family and watched all our grandchildren grow up here. And I figured out, our grandkids … they're going to be 70 years old for (America) 300."

A capsule sealed in 1926 was opened in 1976. The 1976 capsule was opened in 2026. Each opening connects three generations of Winnetka residents to the village's layered history.

The Winnetka Historical Society plans to display the capsule items at its building at 411 Linden Street. The society will form a committee to select items for the village's next time capsule, to be opened in 2076.

Reporting gap: The Historical Society has not announced a timeline or public process for selecting items for the 2076 capsule. Residents interested in participating can contact the society at 847-446-0001 or [email protected].

The morning ceremony preceded a holiday weekend disrupted by severe weather. Winnetka canceled its pre-fireworks activities at Duke Childs Field that evening due to heavy thunderstorms that also forced Wilmette to cancel its Gillson Park festivities on July 3.

The capsule opening, at least, beat the rain.