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The Armstrong Experience
April 5
The Auglaize County Historical Society takes to the road for a very special bus trip: The Armstrong
Experience, on Friday, April 5. The price is $63 per person.
The Auglaize County Historical Society welcomes Solar Eclipse guests, those new to the county, those making a homecoming, and those who’ve never left! It invites all to learn more about the places connected with Neil Armstrong’s childhood and his life’s vocation.
Beginning at 8:30 am, the itinerary for the trip includes:
The Airstream Factory, Jackson Center—West-central Ohio’s own Airstream Factory built the trailers used to house the Apollo astronauts in quarantine after space missions. Following a visit to the Airstream Heritage Center, the tour will include a walkthrough of the actual production plants. Participants will learn how Airstream carefully crafts, rivets, and builds its travel trailers by hand.
The bus will then return to Wapakoneta, with busgoers viewing area sites en route and learning about the community that Neil Armstrong called home. From his birthplace to his school, his boyhood home to the airfield where he learned to fly—many Armstrong-related buildings still dot the local landscape.
Lunch will be served at the historic St. Paul United Church of Christ, home congregation of the Armstrong Family. The meal features foods that any good Midwestern mom would have served her family in the mid-20th century. John Zwez, former site manager for the Armstrong Air & Space Museum and family friend of the Armstrongs, will address the group during lunch. The tour will also include the historic St. Paul sanctuary where the Armstrong family worshipped.
The final stop is the Armstrong Air & Space Museum.
Three years to the day after the historic walk on the moon, on July 20, 1972, the Armstrong Air & Space Museum opened. As space exploration has evolved, so have the exhibits at the Armstrong Air & Space Museum. Yet the focus of the Armstrong Museum has remained the same for more than 50 years: to serve as a repository of Ohio’s aeronautical history and a monument to the state’s contribution to aviation and space exploration, and as a tribute to Neil Armstrong, whose “one
small step for [a] man” was indeed a “giant leap for mankind.”
The Historical Society also has a few surprises planned for the busgoers, expressions of warm Auglaize County hospitality! Seating is limited. Registration includes bus accommodations, lunch, and admission to all sites. Contact auglaizecountyhistory@bright.net or visit the Historical Society’s Facebook page for a copy of the registration form.
About the Historical Society
Founded in 1963, the Auglaize County Historical Society collects, preserves, interprets, and shares the history of Auglaize County, enriching lives by connecting people and communities to the past and to each other.