GULF SHORES, Ala. – A capsule lost time but accidently found again contained some interesting artifacts from life in Gulf Shores in 1976.

There were newspapers from The Onlooker and from Mobile, Birmingham and Pensacola. And, surprisingly, a pair of women’s shoes in addition to college football schedules and a variety of other items included portraying the times.

But one set of items was particularly exciting to Gulf Shores Museum Administrator Christie Shannon.

“I did jump up and down when I found some letters addressed to Midge Callaway’s grandchildren which would be your children,” Shannon said, speaking to a group in the audience. Midge Callaway’s daughters Joy Callaway Busken Robinson, Lillian Callaway Kichler Bemis and Mary Beth Hayes were on hand at the revealing of the time capsule’s contents.

The finding of the capsule was quite by accident. A group was gathered Thursday on the north lawn of the Alabama Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce’s property on Alabama 59 to cut a ribbon for the symbolic opening of a new state-of-the-art board room.

It was during that renovation when building contractor and chamber board member Greg Kennedy found an odd-looking tube in the attic.

“It was stuck over in the corner and had insulation all over it and as soon as I saw it I said ‘I know that’s a time capsule,’” Kennedy said.

The space being renovated used to be the office of Herb Malone, now the President and CEO of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism.

“So I called Herb and I was standing in the attic and I got him on my cell phone and I said ‘you know anything about a time capsule?’” Kennedy recalled. “He said ‘I don’t know, I have no idea.’ I asked him if wanted to come down here and look at it and he said ‘no, open it up.’ I took a Skil saw and cut the end off and all this stuff fell out.”

And a mystery was born.

The capsule contained a packing list, but there were items in the capsule that were not on the packing list. Initially, officials said, there were two time capsules. One to be opened in 2009 for the Baldwin County bicentennial and one to be opened in 2076 for the country’s tri-centennial.

“Herb Malone didn’t know anything about the time capsule being in what used to be his office,” Chamber President Ed Rodriguez said. “He did tell us that there was a time capsule found about three years ago and they X-rayed it and found out it was empty.”

Apparently, Rodriguez said, that was the capsule slated to be opened in 2009

“They at some point decided to combine the contents of the ’09 one with this one which is the reason all these other items are in here and not on the packing list,” he said. “Nobody knew it was here.”

The other was lost to time until it was discovered during the renovation.

Shannon said the discovery of the empty capsule was quite a disappointment and she was glad the second one was found.

“I was overjoyed when I heard they had found a time capsule and very excited that Greg Kennedy knew what to do with it,” she said. “The most exciting thing that I saw that brought it all into perspective for me were some letters that were addressed to some people in our audience.”

As the ribbon was cut and folks made their way into the new board room for a tour and Power Point presentation of the capsule’s contents, Midge Callaway’s descendants found a spot in the shade to read her letters from 1976.