January 4, 2000

To a future generation:

This millennial time capsule was placed in the south staircase of the state capitol building on the occasion of my inaugural as governor of Utah on Statehood Day, January 4, 2001.

You will be opening this time capsule on Statehood Day 2101. In it, you will find letters addressed to you written by state leaders, religious leaders and editors of Utah's four daily newspapers.

You will find news coverage of today's placement of the time capsule, and of the inaugural ceremony; Olympic pins commemorating the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, which our state will host in little more than a year; the birth certificates of Brinlee Millennia Shepard and Cameron Max Dunn, the first babies of the new millennium, who may well live to see Statehood Day 2101 when this time capsule will again be opened. You will also find coins and packages for the families of the governor's staff.

On this day, the 105th birthday of our state, Utah is growing, both in population and prosperity. Utah is young, education-minded and tech savvy. Our state is admired both for its beauty, and for the innovation of its people.

Our aspirations have been noble: caring for the needy, improving our schools, building universities, creating better-paying jobs, making our state a safe place to live.

While our moment in history will be defined by great demands and sweeping changes, we know our place in history will be defined by what we plant, and by what we enable you to harvest.

I have included in this time capsule a handful of acorns in a wooden box. I gathered them last year from the base of an old oak tree as I stood at the gravesite of an ancestor. Each acorn holds within it a record of the past and a promise for the future. They symbolize the legacy we hope we have left for you, of good things planted and grown.

You are undoubtedly using the occasion of a new century to review the progress of the past 100 years and to ponder the next 100. As you do so, Utah is likely not the biggest state in the union, nor the most powerful economically or politically, but it is my most fervent hope that Utah has remained a place of prosperity, achievement and optimism.

Sincerely,

Governor Michael O. Leavitt
Fourteenth Governor of Utah