Carl Ewing, past Chief the Newtown Square Fire Company is now the “Official Time Capsule Opener.” When the first firehouse building was built in 1916, a copper box was sealed in the cornerstone. When that firehouse was torn down in 1965, Carl was on hand to grab the time capsule, which was opened with 11 Charter members on hand to witness the event.
In 1967, it was once again sealed, with plans to open it on the 100 th Anniversary of the fire company. In 2016, the decision was made to wait to open it as a new building was planned. COVID interfered – and members moved into the new building, leaving the cornerstone behind, but not forgotten. On September 24, 2022, Carl Ewing removed the copper box at the old building. Assisting him were Past Chief and Past President Robert Allison, Past Chief Robert Robinson, Chief Douglas Everlof and President Tina Heffernan.
Past Chief Robert Robinson, Past Chief and Past President
Robert Allison, Chief Douglas Everlof, Past Chief Carl Ewing,
President Tina Heffernan
With no instruction on which end to open, Carl guessed and went to work with a hacksaw. It was a good guess, as one end had glass items and the other paper. Members gathered around as company historian Preston Tyrrell took each item out of the box. Some items were expected to be in the box, and others were not. The members had recently found a list of the items added in 1967. Jack Monahan, who sealed the box in 1967, placed two of his driver’s licenses in the box, as well as a photo. Danny Cosfol placed in an envelope a penny, a nickel, a dime and a quarter, totaling 41 cents. Oddly enough, five years later, the fire company would join the county-wide dispatch system and receive the station designation of 41.
In 1995, long-time member Al Branca who had served for 56 years, wished to have his ashes spread from the roof of the firehouse. As they moved to a new location in 2020, one of the concerns was “What to do about Al?” A mug of gravel from the old roof was collected and spread on the roof of the new firehouse, symbolically bringing Al with us.
The items, including a nail and rivet from the 1915 fire that gave birth to the fire company, were displayed during the building’s dedication on October 8, 2022. Plans for what to do with the items and a new time capsule are in the works.
For more history on Newtown Square, Delaware County, and membership information, please visit our website at www.nshistory.org.
