- May 15, 2025
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Bird Key Yacht Club members opened a time capsule from 2000 during its celebration of the clubhouse's final days on April 26.
Photo by Dana KampaVice Commodore Tony Britt and Commodore Michael Landis read a letter from the Bird Key Yacht Club members who buried the time capsule 25 years ago.
Photo by Dana KampaBird Key Yacht Club General Manager Tammy Hackney, Commodore Michael Landis and Vice Commodore Tony Britt prepare to open the time capsule.
Photo by Dana KampaParty goers curiously peer at the time capsule, waiting to see what comes out next.
Photo by Dana KampaThe concrete-encased time capsule was securely fastened with screws and tightly suctioned closed, but Bird Key Yacht Club General Manager Tammy Hackney came to the rescue with tools to help.
Photo by Dana KampaVice Commodore Tony Britt and Commodore Michael Landis hold up a copy of "The Longboat Observer" ringing in the year 2000.
Photo by Dana KampaOther items included in the vault were copies of photos from historic moments, like the groundbreaking of the original clubhouse.
Photo by Dana KampaTed and Suzanne Yerdon, Bob Baer and Irene Britt join the "Party On" festivities.
Photo by Dana KampaCathy Landis, Cathy Voigt, Cheryl Chase, Anne-Marie Jannuzzo and Cindy Vella
Photo by Dana KampaAfter the opening, members headed inside the clubhouse to enjoy music and dancing.
Photo by Dana KampaAttendees "Party On" into the evening.
Photo by Dana KampaThe 65-year-old clubhouse at Bird Key Yacht Club is sticking around for a short while longer, and members decided to embrace those remaining days with a "Party On" celebration on April 26.
Commodore Michael Landis and Vice Commodore Tony Britt took the opportunity to uncover a time capsule originally buried at the clubhouse on Feb. 9, 2000.
Britt read a letter from then-Commodore Paula Herod, who coincidentally was the first woman to hold the title since the club's formation in the 1960s.
"My personal wish as commodore is that you be blessed with committees and staff members as dedicated and hardworking as mine have been," Britt read aloud to attendees.
She thanked the members of her time for working hard to make Bird Key Yacht Club a "home away from home."
"This doesn't just happen," she wrote. "It takes work and commitment from devoted people."
Landis began pulling out other historical documents, and before long, he was up to his shoulder reaching down into the cylinder encased in concrete. One after another, items denoting that moment in time came out of the vault.
A pennant with a previous Bird Key Yacht Club design came out, followed by notes from the important committees of the day, photographs, and issues of the Longboat Observer, Pelican Press and Sarasota Herald Tribune reporting on the new millennium.
The capsule did not hold any gold doubloons or any of Al Capone's loot, as some viewers had guessed. But it did safely preserve tidbits of the club's history, which Britt said members will proudly display at the new clubhouse.
His wife, Irene Britt, said she found the message from Herod to be the most interesting item in the vault. Having seen the plans for the new clubhouse, she said it will be a "spectacularly beautiful" gathering point for this longstanding organization.
"It'll be a new home for our friendship," she added. "That's never going to change."
After the uncovering, members reminisced about their time in this building, dined, then headed to the dance floor to fully embrace the "Party On" theme.
Britt said members eagerly anticipate making the most of their remaining days with the current clubhouse, and they look forward to hopefully breaking ground for the modernized facilities in September.
Once construction is complete, current club members plan to bury a new time capsule of their own, and Britt said it should have some interesting items for future excavators.
"I think because we have such a humorous bunch of people, we'll throw a bit of fun in there too," he said.
