By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
For 60 years two Ball mason jars sat behind a cornerstone at the Tiro Citizens Bank, nearly forgotten. That is until Dorothy Broome, who was visiting her hometown while on vacation, happened to mention it to Citizens Bank facilities manager James Knight.
Dorothy (Miller) Broome had been 10-years-old when the Farmers and Citizens Bank was built in 1954. She had walked to the corner of Hilborn Street and Main Street to watch as the building was constructed. While Broome watched, she mentioned to the workers that she knew how to put in a nail. They didn’t believe her but gave her a chance anyway.
“I got right down there and pound those nails in,” said Broome. “I was a nosy little kid and got to be here and watch (as they put it in).”
It was Broome and her sister Janet (Miller) Linn who had walked down to the bank earlier this month and mentioned the Ball jars to Knight. Broome had thought the jars, serving as time boxes from 1954, were common knowledge. Much to her surprise, and those of the bank employees, very few remembered the jars being placed there during a ceremony in September of 1954.
Now, 60 years later, Broome once again stood on the corner of Hilborn and Main streets to witness a historical moment for the former bank building. The white marble cornerstone was slowly pried out of the brickwork to reveal two jars wrapped in gold foil and tied with bows.
Those gathered around the front of the building encouraged Connie Bores, the last teller to work at the Tiro Citizens Bank, to be the one to open the jars. After slipping the wrapping off and prying apart the lid, Bores pulled a coin collection out of the first jar, which included a Liberty half dollar; a quarter, dime, and penny from 1953; and a 1949 nickel. Also in the jar was a six-page Tiro telephone directory, a blank check from the bank, and an Aug. 26 issue of The Tiro World. The second jar contained letters from various community members and groups, including a letter from then-mayor Carl Baker, the Tiro school, and the Tiro Lions Club. A list of fire department members and the financials of the bank were also pulled from the jar.
Broome was overcome with emotion after the opening of the jars. “I am blessed,” she said, “I really am, to be here. I was here when they put it in – just a little kid – and now I get to be here now when they took it out.”
Broome wasn’t sure what they had put in the jar but she sat rapt the entire time as each new item was pulled from the jars.
“I’m just delighted at the stuff they put in. I think it’s just wonderful.”
Though Broome was the one to bring the time capsules back to the Tiro memory, she almost didn’t get to see the event happen. The removal of the cornerstone was scheduled to happen after Broome returned to her home in Texas. When bank officials found out that she might miss the event, they decided to move up the date to allow Broome to attend.
“I was so happy when I found out they were going to do it today,” said Broome. “I love this place. It was like Mayberry when I was growing up and I love coming back.”
The bank was officially closed on June 6. The building is currently in the process of being sold.
A photo gallery of the reveal can be found on our Photos page.