Forty Years Later
I’m having the best time wandering through the virtual Moon Landing Memories exhibit presented by Footnote and Florida Today. Boy, does it bring back memories. We were not close enough to the Cape to experience the day-to-day business of the space program, but we were – and still are – close enough to watch those huge rockets explode out of the atmosphere into outer space. I remember watching Alan Sheppard, John Glenn and the other Mercury astronauts on a big television in the school auditorium. If it wasn’t a school day, we’d be down at the beach in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the ball of fire with its contrail heading into the sky.
The online exhibit is impressive with all the news stories and photos of the missions, but I’m most fascinated by the comments and memorabilia being posted by the visitors. The photos, certificates and memories from the people who made these historical events possible are often even more interesting than the news items. This is one thing Footnote does so well. They realize the value of personal collections and encourage members to build stories around their content combined with Footnote content. By allowing us to make those stories available to our family and friends – including the Footnote premium content – they not only add value to their collections, but they also grow a loyal member base.
On the morning of July 16th, 1969, a group of kids gathered at the beach – much earlier than normal – to watch history happen. Transistor radios were blaring to keep us updated on the countdown status. Although there were some clouds between us and the Cape, we still had a great view of Apollo 11 climbing into space. Several days later the radios again told us the lunar module was about to land on the moon. We all ran to the nearest television – Lynn’s house just a couple blocks from the beach. Her mother was very gracious when this horde of damp and sandy teenagers descended on her living room and you could hear a pin drop as we watched the landing.
This summer, many of those kids will be celebrating two important anniversaries at the same time. Our 40th high school reunion will be held during the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. And yes, we’re kicking off that reunion at the beach.
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