Contact
* Those looking for more information about the essay contest for the new Forsyth County Courthouse can contact Janyce Medeiros at (770) 205-4576.
* Essays with cover letters can be mailed or delivered to Forsyth County Court Administrator Robin Rooks at 100 Courthouse Square, Suite 020, Cumming, GA 30040. They must be postmarked by Feb. 19.
* Entries can also be emailed to rsrooks@forsythco.com. The email deadline is 4 p.m. Feb. 20.
CUMMING — Four local middle or high school students have a chance to make history.
The Bell-Forsyth Judicial Circuit is holding an essay contest for a time capsule that will be buried as part of the opening of the new county courthouse in March.
“We’re looking for essays from the students in the school system to tell us a little bit about life in the year 2015, and what life is like in Forsyth County,” said Chief Superior Court Judge Jeffery S. Bagley. “We’ll be grading the essays and selecting the best ones on that topic.”
For those more interested in the present than the future, the winning middle school student will be awarded $75, and the runner-up $50, while the high school winner will receive $100 and the runner-up $75.
The essay must be an original work of up to 1,000 typed words. Entries are due by 4 p.m. on Feb. 20.
The winners, their parents and teachers will be invited guests at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new courthouse.
“We have a list of potential items that will go in the time capsule,” Bagley said. “We’re going to display those items at the dedication ceremony on March 12 in the rotunda of the courthouse. So anyone that comes to the ceremony can see, ‘Oh, this is going in the time capsule.’”
“Whoever — I guess maybe a hundred years from now — that is here that wants to open that thing back up, I guess they could do that.”
In addition to the essays, the circuit is looking for a variety of objects to go in the time capsule, including those that represent modern life in Forsyth, as well as historical documents and items.
“We’ll then collect all the items and put them in a time capsule,” Bagley said. “We’ll probably have a little ceremony to put the time capsule in the cornerstone probably the next week after the dedication of the courthouse.”
Items sought for the project include letters from residents at the time of the dedication of the existing courthouse, in 1976, and accounts of jury service or trials from the 1905 courthouse. Also wanted are dated and labeled photographs of present-day Forsyth, sports programs and items from local service organizations.
Items can be brought to the local court administration office between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Fridays.