UNION — Randy Scott. Bob Heald. Christmas trees, elms and time capsules. Planning for Union’s Sestercentennial, with the theme “looking back to look forward,” gave the city new features and modern touches to maintain its roots in what is known as the oldest public city in Maine.

As residents watch the burial of a new time capsule on the Common at 3pm on Sunday 21 July, they will see a stainless steel box lowered into the ground, close to where the previous capsule sat for 50 years.

The city continued the tradition of using a time capsule built by a Union company and watched Steel-Pro move from Rockland to Union. The previous capsule, buried on the Common in 1974, came from the Thurston Brothers’ casket. And historians were given directions on how to find that casket when it finally arrived: “8 feet from the Civil War monument, at a 45-degree angle.”

Ken Kieran of Union Farm Equipment (celebrating 75 years), Steve Ladd of Steel-Pro and Keith Seigel, a member of the Sestercentennial committee, helped dig up the old capsule. Despite the designation “8 feet,” they had some trouble finding the box.

“It took a lot of hard work and dedication to sort out the logistics of where to bury the 1974 bicentennial time capsule, and then to get it out, dig it up, etc.,” said Tracy Weed, a member of the Sestercentennial committee.

However, the new box comes at a time when GPS technology is available and it is expected to be easily retrieved when the next excavation takes place.

While some committee members were busy with the capsules, others worked on preparing the grounds for the ceremonial review.

A Christmas tree has been planted on the Common as a symbol of the holiday season and will be lit next winter, along with other illuminated symbols of the season. Beneath the tree is a stone etched by Maine Monuments, in Appleton, in honor of the man so many knew and loved, according to Rick Pease of Union Hardware. The dedication is to Randy Scott, Christmas tree grower, who also made his mark by making many birdhouses for the streets around Union over the years.

“This man was a friend to many. He was a friend to me,” Pease said. “He was a father, a husband, a grandfather. And so missed by all who knew him.”

The tree was planted by the team from The Town of Union and Farley and Sons, with Tom Farley playing a key role.

“It’s wonderful to honor people like Randy Scott,” said Tracy Weed.

Many Union residents also knew Bob Heald, the creator of the birdhouses that line the city streets.

“While we were making plans and talking about what was missing on the heath, we thought: ‘There should be a birdhouse’,” says Argy Nestor.

Stephanie Turner unveiled the birdhouse during the Sestercentennial opening ceremony. Out of the goodness of her heart, Turner tends the gardens around the bandstand and the flower-filled trough, “and she does it with love,” Weed said.

And for those visitors who want to get a sense of the history of Union, the map of the common since 1968, a copy of the novel “Come Spring”, has been repainted a second time (the first time in 1982), along with some additions. The back of the map shows the history of the common and includes images of people around the common from the late 1800s/early 1900s.

“Not only will it provide information, but it also gives us the opportunity to share our history with people who come to visit,” Nestor said.

Due to obstacles along the way and the desire of schoolchildren to attend the dedication ceremony, the contents of the back of the card will be revealed in September.

Meanwhile, a young, newly planted elm takes root in the ground of a communal meadow once covered with elms.

Contact Sarah Thompson@[email protected]