Steuben County created a millennium time capsule to preserve material memories of the Year 2000 for a future generation fifty years later. Initiated, organized, and funded by the Steuben County Community Foundation beginning in March 1998, the countywide project was approved by county commissioners and involved representatives from government, business, education, religion, nonprofit groups, and media. The chosen contents were intended to provide a snapshot of the county's character and life in 1999 and 2000, reflecting its history, technology, business and industry, education, agriculture, government, religion, services and philanthropy, health care, recreation, media, and the arts. The capsule itself was a fully welded low carbon airtight stainless steel container enclosed within a concrete vault, about a foot and a half square by two feet high and weighing about fifty pounds. After the collected items were sent to The Future Packaging and Preservation Company in Covina, California, they were wrapped, sealed inside, the air was purged and replaced with inert gas, and the capsule was welded shut. Dedicated on Sept. 23, 2000 during Steuben County's Fall Fe Activities, the capsule was intended to be opened in 2050 as a record, guide, and diary of community life for future generations.