Two Ohio University alumni who buried a make-shift time capsule near Cutler Hall more than 20 years ago hope to return to College Green and unearth memories with freshman daughter.
More than 20 years after burying a make-shift time capsule on College Green, a pair of Bobcat alumni hope to exhume the capsule with their freshman daughter and other children, Chase and Brielle.
The couple buried the capsule, a band-aid can sealed with tape, in the ground just east of Cutler Hall in 1992. The can contained letters and mementos, including a fraternity pin, among other things.
“We promised each other that we would come back after 20 years with our kids and try to find it again,” said Glenn Somodi, who created the capsule with Merri-Jo Rhodes, who is now his wife.
Glenn and Merri-Jo met during their sophomore year of college.
“I met her actually at a party,” Glenn said. “I was running the keg, and she needed a beer, and I told her she couldn’t have a beer unless she danced with me.”
Kylie Somodi, Glenn and Merri-Jo’s daughter and an OU freshman studying speech pathology, said her parents have always been close.
“They grew up always loving each other, and when they did fight, it always lasted like an hour, and then it was over,” she said. “They’ve always shown me what a true relationship should be like, and I just really appreciate that.”
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In a moment of spontaneity their senior year, the the couple decided to memorialize their college years with a time capsule.
“When we were very poor seniors in 1992, we decided one night to create a time capsule with some letters to each other about our future dreams, along with some mementos from our college experience,” Glenn said in an email to The Post. “The only thing we could find and use to bury the items was a band-aid can - which we wrapped in tape (remember we were poor seniors).”
The capsule was buried roughly eight paces from a big landmark tree to the left of Cutler Hall, but Glenn said the tree has since been removed.
At the time, College Green seemed like the perfect location to Glenn for their capsule, who was already planning his proposal to Merri-Jo. A year after placing the band-aid can, he traveled from his home in Columbus to visit Merri-Jo who was in her fifth year of physical therapy education.
“I drove all the way up to visit her, and in the middle of the night, I realized I had left the ring at home, back in Columbus,” he said. “So, I drove all the way to Columbus to get the ring and drove all the way back before she woke up so that I’d have it on Sweetest Day to give her on College Green.”
The couple was engaged on the steps of Cutler Hall, yards away from where the time capsule was buried.
In November of this year, Glenn came to visit Kylie for Dad’s Weekend and brought a metal detector with him to scope out the spot where he believes the capsule is buried.
“We went there, and he wanted me to keep lookout,” Kylie said. “He didn’t want to get in trouble even though he wasn’t doing anything wrong. Everyone was giving him the weirdest looks.”
After receiving several hits on his metal detector, Glenn couldn’t definitively determine where the capsule is located, but said he was able to narrow it down to a 10-foot radius.
“I’d love to get to see them open that and just share those memories because I know when they come here now to visit me, they get sad that it’s over,” Kylie said. ”It’s not keeping them up at night, but I know it’s in the back of my dad’s mind.”
Executive Director of Facilities Management Steve Wood said private entities aren’t permitted to dig on campus.
“If it was being sponsored or supported by a university organization then we would go through the proper work requests,” he said. “We’d also have to involve digging permits, etc. for underground utilities that are being processed to go through approval.”
The Somodi family is hopeful that eventually the capsule will surface.
“Maybe someday someone will happen across the capsule, or be allowed to unearth our little band-aid can time capsule and finish the story that began 23 years ago,” Glenn said in an email.
mb076912@ohio.edu
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