A crowd gathered at the state capitol today to celebrate Washington state’s 125th birthday. The celebration featured a historic reenactment, a time-capsule ceremony and, of course, cake.
In the Capitol Rotunda, a member of the Squaxin Indian tribe sang a blessing song. Then the governor gave a speech before the action moved to Washington’s time capsule. The locked vault was opened and a new generation of time capsule-keepers were sworn in.
These are 10-year-olds who pledged to help preserve the time capsule for the next 25 years. They were joined by the original capsule-keepers from 25 years ago. Among them was Mary Aardal of the Tri-Cities.
“I just think it’s cool to be part of history,” said Aardal, whose daughter is among the new generation of capsule-keepers.
At exactly 3:09 p.m. there was a historical reenactment of the arrival of the telegram that announced Washington’s statehood in 1889. That was followed by cake.
