Te Puke Rotary Club's time capsule initiative

Te Puke Rotary treasurer Gretchen Earle and president Kim Hinaki with some of the documents that will be put in the time capsule.

Looking back at the last 30 years, things have certainly changed.

But how different will life be in another three decades? It's difficult to know, but Te Puke Rotary Club is making sure people in the area in 2050 will have an idea about life in Te Puke at the end of 2019.

Next Monday the club will bury a time capsule at the start of Te Ara Kahikatea Pathway. In it will be letter from local primary, intermediate and high school students, documents tracing the history of the club, retail fliers, copies of the Te Puke Times and photographs of Te Puke as it is today.

President Kim Hinaki says the idea was suggested at a meeting two or three months ago.

''We had helped out on part of the walkway so one of the members just put it to everyone that we should put a time capsule down,,'' he says. ''Everyone agreed on it and picked the day, which was December 2, which is our last meeting [for the year].''

The time capsule will be buried near the sign showing the route of the pathway at the old Te Puke Cemetery.

''We picked 30 years because some of our younger members will hopefully still be around.''

Also in the capsule will be information on the government and who the local MP is and information on house and grocery prices and at the spot it is buried will be a plaque saying when it should be dug up.

The club also intends to put up the weather vane that was originally put on the information kiosk outside the old Te Puke railway station.