You just knew that Rik Yeames had one last solar-eclipse extravaganza in him.

Yeames has spent more than five years getting New Hampshire excited about the eclipse we just experienced – the Monitor first wrote about his efforts in March 2019 – so it’s only fitting that he was the driving force behind the huge time capsule full of eclipse paraphernalia buried Wednesday at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center.

“I hope my descendants are here when it’s opened,” Yeames said Wednesday afternoon, gazing at tables full of items destined to be placed into the capsule, from T-shirts to a gubernatorial proclamation to a bottle of Eclipse rum to a parachute used in science experiments as the North Country went dark for three minutes. 

The opening of the capsule is scheduled for May 1, 2079, the next time a solar eclipse comes through the Granite State, although Yeames hopes they do it a year earlier so it can help future fans get some ideas for how to prepare. He has never been shy of ideas himself, from the car he turned into an “EclipseMobile” with a full body wrap to the time he partnered Coos County with Coos Bay, Oregon, when that location had a partial eclipse in 2023. 

Most importantly Yeames, who owns local Domino’s restaurants, spent years badgering state and local officials to prepare for crowds, preparation that paid off when businesses, towns and first responders were ready as more than 150,000 people flowed North of the Notches to see the April 8 eclipse. The day went smoothly despite the mobs although flowing back south was another matter, creating an unprecedented, day-long traffic jam in Franconia Notch. 

The onslaught was helped by fabulously cloud-free weather, which provided perhaps the best viewing along the entire path of the moon’s shadow from Texas to Maine, but doesn’t Yeames think he can take some credit for it, too?

“Yes, maybe I can,” he admitted. 

True to Yeames’ over-the-top preparations, the time capsule buried out behind the Discovery Center is massive. Compared to the hand-held metal container that usually suffices, it’s a four-foot-diameter concrete tub with a concrete lid so heavy it has to be lifted with a backhoe. The tub was built by Phoenix Precast Products and the backhoe provided by Raymond Landscaping; Yeames has become an expert at getting area companies to help out when the eclipse is involved. 

Other items being placed inside the capsule include a handmade pinhole camera for safe viewing of the eclipse, lots of copies of articles in the Monitor and other local publications, mementos from mugs and posters and hats to a special Canadian stamp, as well as a bottle of Mount Gay Eclipse rum, named after a solar eclipse that went through Barbados in 1910. In another 55 years it should be well-aged.

This wasn’t the last ceremony involving the 2024 eclipse, since Plymouth State University is likely to have a session in the fall that will include discussion of atmospheric research done by faculty and students in the North Country town of Pittsburg as the sun disappeared, but years of preparation are finally winding down. 

That might not be enough for Yeames, though. “I’d like to take this global,” he mused.