The search for a time capsule buried in the concrete floor of the Douglas County Engine Co. fire station has turned into a treasure hunt.
Engine company personnel began looking eight months ago for the time capsule, hoping to unearth it in time for Minden's centennial celebration July 2.
The capsule was buried when the engine house expanded in the late 1970s.
"At first, we were thinking if we can find it, great; if we can't, oh, well," said volunteer firefighter Henry Dreyer.
But that ambivalence has turned into dogged determination.
"We will find it," Dreyer said. "We're hoping to be able to get it out of its resting spot in the next week or so."
Veteran volunteers suspect the late Danny Hellwinkel, who died in 2002, is enjoying a celestial chuckle at their expense.
"Very few people had a clue where the time capsule was," Dreyer said. "Danny wouldn't tell anybody, but we believe we've located it."
Borrowing equipment from a local prospecting company, the volunteers suspect they have detected one of Hellwinkel's trademark silver dollars which lead them to conclude they've found the time capsule.
"Whenever he did anything, Danny would put a silver dollar that had a screw in it," Dreyer said. "The prospecting equipment picked up two different metals under the concrete."
Volunteers plan to bring in a jackhammer Saturday to see if they, indeed, found the time capsule.
"We're trying not to damage the station," Dreyer said.
According to Minden historian Wynne Maule's book, "Minden, Nevada: The Story of a Unique Town," the time capsule was buried by the large back door of the new structure, and to the left.
Volunteer Doug Sonnemann chalked up the mystery to Hellwinkel's "old German engineering."
"Every one of those guys who you talk to, who were here when it was buried, say they're not sure where it is," Sonnemann said.
"Some folks think - it's only speculation - that Danny Hellwinkel did it by himself, that he probably went over there one night, threw it in the floor and pushed a little dirt over it," Sonnemann said.
Assuming the time capsule is found, Dreyer said it will be displayed during the Minden centennial July 2, then resealed and reburied.
"We're hoping to add a little to the time capsule about us, that we're the last of the engine company volunteers and why we were basically cut out," Dreyer said.
The Douglas County Engine Company volunteers were phased out over the past year for full-time firefighters and paramedics.
Dreyer and Sonnemann were among the last of the volunteers.
"As a citizen, I think it's going pretty good," Dreyer said of the changes. "As a volunteer I just hate to see it, but it's for the good of the community."
Another piece of firefighter history will be front and center for the centennial.
The LaFrance engine, which the town of Minden purchased new in 1938 for $7,900, will be available to give children rides during the centennial celebration.
The old engine is pretty much consigned to the station, but provides transportation for Santa Claus at Christmas and is a mainstay of the annual Carson Valley Days parade.
It was turned over to the town in 1985.
"I'll be taking it out to the (Dreyer) ranch and fixing a few tires," Dreyer said. "I kind of take care of it for the town. I love this old stuff, the history of it."
