President Obama has sent a handwritten note that will be enclosed for 50 years in a time capsule inside a brick wall of the Fine Arts Building at Vermilion Community College in Ely.
The note says:
"Fifty years from now, I hope we have managed the balance between our energy needs and our need to preserve the planet so that the wilderness surrounding Ely remains as spectacular as you describe."
The president actually sent the note on White House stationery in September. It's getting attention now, says the Duluth News Tribune, because NBC's "Today" show came to Ely to prepare an Inaugural Day piece on the town.
Gerry Snyder of Ely sent a request last March to the president for the time capsule contribution, which will go into the wall this spring.
The paper said:
Snyder said his community was pleased and honored to receive such a unique and personal response from a sitting president. Snyder said he’s been told administration staffers are highly selective of what mail actually makes it directly to the president’s desk.
“I was very surprised my letter made it, because they didn’t know me from Adam,” he said.