Armstrong Museum Hosts 50th Anniversary Celebration

WAPAKONETA — Wednesday, July 20^th marks the fiftieth anniversary of the grand opening for the Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta. To commemorate this special occasion, the museum will be hosting a full day of festive events and activities for guests and community members to enjoy.

To begin the day at 10:30 AM, the museum will virtually host Tom Crouch, Curator Emeritus of the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum, who will give a presentation on the history of the Armstrong Museum exhibits and his participation in acquiring the artifacts on display.

Beginning at 1:30 PM, the celebration will head to the museum’s southwest lawn for the ribbon-cutting of the new Learjet 28 outdoor exhibit area. Guests will then move to the museum front entrance for the re-dedication ceremony which will take place at 2:00 PM, the exact time the museum opened its doors fifty years prior. Special guests will speak briefly at both events. Directly following, the ceremony will conclude with birthday cupcakes and a special Aeronca Champion fly-over.

At 3:30 PM, a panel of specialists who worked on the museum’s construction will go into an in-depth discussion of designing, engineering, and constructing the famous lunar base architecture. Panel participants include Dan Freytag from the Sidney based architectural firm Freytag & Associates, and Wapakoneta local John Zwez, who was one of the museum’s first employees and later site manager.

Other events happening throughout the day include a laser-light show in the museum’s Astro-theater, the release of the new annual commemorative cancellation cover, a meet & greet session with former NASA astronaut Greg H. Johnson, and a live on-site broadcast from WGTE, who will also be interviewing special guests over the course of the show.

To finish the night, at 7:00 PM, the museum will host its fiftieth anniversary gala. The guest of honor for the event is Axiom-1 astronaut Larry Connor, Ohio’s newest astronaut. During the evening, Connor will discuss his historic space mission and being a part of the first all-private crew to the International Space Station. Connor will also hand over items flown into space on the museum’s behalf.

For more information on the museum’s 50^th anniversary or ticket availability for the gala, please visit the museum website at www.armstrongmuseum.org or call the museum at (419)-738-8811.