Charles Lammers had to ask the Ranch Events Complex to remove a door frame in order to bring the giant 7-by-3-foot Colorado Capsule inside the building. Visitors to the Larimer County Fair stood and watched as Lammers and another worker rolled the capsule it into place, right next to a sign that reads in bold letters: “Be a part of Colorado’s History.”
“It's open to any Colorado resident to submit any story, any artifact, anything that means something to them that they would like the future to know,” Lammers, the Destination Marketing Manager with Visit Loveland, said. “It's not our capsule. It's the whole state's.”
Visit Loveland has been taking this time capsule all around Colorado this summer – in honor of the state’s 150th birthday – to collect photos, letters and other objects that show what life is like in 2026. Then, it will be buried at the Ranch to be opened 50 years later, in 2076.
This is the state’s largest capsule, according to Lammers. That’s a good thing, because he has already received over 100 submissions of items to add. But he said the time capsule – which is made out of a water main pipe – is nowhere close to full.
“Our first item was actually a Nordy's BBQ menu,” Lammers said. “It was very appropriate because we're seeing a lot of the 1976 time capsules open up with restaurant menus, pictures of cities.”
Lammers said one man came and donated Indigenous spirit sticks, which local tribe members blessed. Distortions Unlimited — a Greeley business — contributed a Greeley Gremlin that was used in Monster Days, a local festival that celebrates monsters in pop culture. Another lady went home and changed so she could donate her favorite Colorado Rockies T-shirt.
“She saw the capsule, it clicked what an impact this thing makes,” Lammers said.
Organizers are also collecting letters to the future that answer questions like, “What does a typical day in your life look like in 2026?” Or “What gives you hope for the future?”
The letters are written on sugar-cane archive paper using pigment-based pens that won’t fade over time.
Sixty-four-year-old Michael Arnold wrote a letter filled with details from 1976 — when he was growing up in Loveland.
“There were still telephones and typewriters, and the toys we played with were Hot Wheels and Legos and model car kits,” Arnold recalled. “You would ride your bike all over to friends in the neighborhood. You all hung out. But when mom called for dinner, you all would go home.”
He hopes when his grandkids and others read it in the future, they can grasp just how quickly things can change.
“When I grew up in this town, it was a little tiny town, and most people left that I knew in high school, and I stayed here. And now this is the big town,” Arnold said.
Younger generations also stopped by the booth to share their thoughts.
“(I wrote that) the world's gonna be harsh and it's gonna be mean and it's not gonna like you, but you have to just get back up and keep pushing,” 12-year-old Calvin Seitz said.
His 8-year-old brother, Walter, hopes to see the capsule opening in 50 years. He was curious what the world will look like then.
“Maybe people can talk through their minds,” he said. “Maybe people live on Mars, on the moon. I don't know.”
Anyone who wants to contribute an object has until September 10th to mail them in or drop them off at the Loveland Visitor Center. The items will be archived and specially wrapped. All letters will be digitally scanned.
The capsule will be sealed and buried at the Ranch Events Complex this fall, and it won’t be touched until 2076 – Colorado’s 200th birthday.
