ELIZABETH TOWNSHIP — On May 24, 1994, kindergarten students at the old Rock Hill Elementary School buried a time capsule of some of their treasured mementos from their first year of school.

Tuesday those students, now graduating seniors, unearthed their buried memories and shared them one last time together.

The time capsule was a 5-foot long gray cylinder that had once seen combat. Now, its appearance from the ground was met with wonder.

“J.R. Thibadaux’s dad had come back from the Persian Gulf War and he brought a Patriot Missile tube,” Mick Hairston, who was then principal at the grade school, explained.

“So we made it the time capsule. It seems like yesterday.”

The tube contained individual photographs of the children as well as photographs of field trips and school activities. Each kindergarten child had drawn a picture of himself or herself and some had even included a small toy.

“Guys, this is really neat,” kindergarten teacher Sherrie Baldridge said as she took the mementos out of plastic bags.

Clifton Jenkins got back his small green motorcycle with a dragon riding on it. Why did he put it in the time capsule?

“I can’t really remember,” he mused. “I honestly can’t remember that far back.”

As for the photograph of himself at age 5, sporting blond locks that cascaded past his ears, Jenkins said “I can’t believe I looked like that.”

With their neat, straight tresses, some of the young ladies had to tease Baldridge about her “big hair,” a 1990s must-have. The way they looked is perhaps what most amused those seniors about the way they were.

“Everything was so different,” Ryan Bunker said. “All the people have changed, the styles have changed, the clothes have changed.”

But for Bunker, those years at Rock Hill have been positive ones and these memories unearthed from the time capsule are proof of that. He plans to study at West Virginia Tech and then hopefully return to the Rock Hill district someday.

“My dream is to teach and coach here,” he said. “I wish everyone the best of luck. I just hope everyone keeps in touch.”