Community leaders met Oct. 12 to prepare to bury a Ray County time capsule in downtown Richmond’s pocket park. They decided to create and bury the capsule in recognition of the co-bicentennials of the state and Ray County. Their plan is for residents to disinter the capsule half a century from now, in 2071, during the first quarter-millennium year for statehood and the county. The box contains ephemera. That is to say, items with no lasting value, at least compared to King Tutankhamun’s gold or The Beatles’ “White Album.” But this is not to suggest the box contains nothing of value. Just as one person’s junk is another’s treasure, the treasure future county residents will find within the Ray County time capsule is the stuff not of dreams, but rather, of memories. The little box includes letters written by area leaders about the county in these times – a period of loss and worry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, and a period of hope and celebration as residents look to the…