LAPLACE — One former St. Joan of Arc School class will go back in time when they dig up a time capsule from 1966 during a Saturday ceremony.

“It’s the first graduating class of St. Joan of Arc,” Tanya Roccaforte said.

“We’re going to begin with a 2 p.m. tour of the school so we can reminisce and then the time capsule excavation will be at 3 p.m. We had a great response; practically everyone except maybe two or three people will be able to attend. We’re really excited about that.”

Roccaforte said St. Joan of Arc administrators invited the current seventh grade class to attend the festivities.

Including spouses, Roccaforte said organizers are anticipating 50 attendees.

“It’s been 50 years since we buried it,” she said. “Our teacher at the time just wanted to do something for fun, so he got us all together and asked the class if we would be interested. We said absolutely.”

The funny thing about the time capsule, Roccaforte said, is the fact no one can really remember what was put in it 50 years ago.

“I know we buried some letters,” she said. “I think we also put a cassette and an album, either a 33 or a 45, but we really aren’t sure. We put everything in an oil or gas barrel. They painted it with some non-corrosive paint. It was blue and orange. They didn’t have Ziploc bags or anything like that, so we have no idea what we’re going to find.”

In the letters, students wrote about their lives, what their interests were and what they did for fun.

“It’s going to be interesting to see if it’s all still there,” she said. “One of the girls and I got together. We thought it would be a good idea to get a mason jar, and in the event there is nothing in there but mush, what we’ll do is dig it out with a shovel and put some of it in the jar. Then we will seal it as tight as we can with a letter in it and throw it in the Mississippi River and hope someday someone finds it and reads the letter explaining what the mush is.”

Roccaforte said they wanted something fun planned just in case things don’t go as expected.

Since her classmates buried their time capsule, Roccaforte said many other classes have followed in the tradition.

“The public is invited to attend,” Roccaforte said. “We are going to present the school with a picture of our class. and we have someone who is going to give a little speech to let everyone know what was going on at that time. We’re excited.”

Roccaforte said a few of her classmates have passed away over the years. In order to have them and former teachers as part of the experience, their families were invited to the event.