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OFFICIAL COMMEMORATIVE
COINS
By Act of Congress, and in honor of this historic event, the US Mint
will produce a series of gold, silver and clad commemorative coins.
Public Law 105-124 states that the design on the coins "shall be
emblematic of the first flight of Orville and Wilbur Wright in Kitty
Hawk, North Carolina." For more information, to see all the designs
and to order, visit the United
States Mint website.
First Flight Centennial Commemorative
Coins are now on sale at pre-issue discount prices (to qualify, orders
must be postmarked or received by the US Mint no later than September
26, 2003). The coins will remain on sale until July 31, 2004, or until a
sell out occurs.
A portion of the proceeds supports the
First Flight Foundation for purposes of repairing,
refurbishing, and maintaining the Wright Brothers National Memorial Park
on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, including providing educational
programs and exhibits for visitors. |
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SURF'S UP! THE BEACH BOYS
TO PERFORM
The
Beach Boys will headline entertainment scheduled on Saturday, December
13 at 1 p.m. as part of the weekend's theme: "Remember the Past,
Imagine the Future". Programming on December 13 and 14 will
celebrate aviation's impact over the last century and will feature
appearances by historic aviators, exhibits chronicling the history of
flight, aircraft demonstrations, skywriting, and wing walking. |
CELEBRATION TICKET SALES
UPDATE
As of today, 68,196 tickets have been
sold for the First Flight Centennial Celebration. The daily breakdown of
tickets sold ranges from 12,502 for December 13 to 17,236 for December
17.
If you have already purchased your
tickets, you should expect to receive them by early August. You must
have a ticket or credentials (sponsor, Centennial Circle or other
credentials) to enter the park for the event. If you are planning to
attend, we encourage you to make your plans as soon as possible --
including booking a room or rental house, purchasing general admission
tickets, or securing reserved seating
(limited membership remaining).
Tickets are available online
or by calling 1-800-973-7327 (or 301-722-1257 outside the U.S.). For
more information on the Celebration, tickets and frequently asked
questions, visit the First
Flight Centennial web site.
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| CYCLISTS CELEBRATE WITH HISTORIC TRIP |
From the Outer
Banks Sentinel, Julia LeDoux
The Buchwalder and Minardi families - Mark and Mary
Buchwalder, their daughters
Diane and Laura , and Mark and Kay Minardi - rode bicycles from Dayton, Ohio to
Kill Devil Hills in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers'
first flight.
"The worst part of the trip was the mountains in eastern
Tennessee and Kentucky," said a smiling Mark Buchwalder shortly after
pulling into the Wright Brothers National Memorial recently. The group left
the Buckeye State July 12 with Mark Buchwalder's father, Robert, and Kay
Minardi's mother, and Clara Wert acting as a support team in a van. |
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| The group's
870-mile odyssey took them through Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and North
Carolina. The foursome spent nearly 70 hours on their bikes and rode
approximately 70 miles a day. The group was met by Park Ranger Jim
Cross. Cross said it was fitting that they made the journey on bicycles. He
noted that Wrights were bicycle mechanics who used what they knew about bikes
to successfully fashion the glider that sent mankind skyward. "The bicycle
really has so much in common with the airplane," he said. "You can
ride a bicycle even though it's unstable. They knew that." Contemporaries
of the Wrights working to break gravity's hold thought that an aircraft would
have to be rigid in order to fly, Cross said. The Wrights proved the idea wrong
on Dec. 17, 1903. The Buchwalder and Minardi clans enjoyed a restful weekend in
the Outer Banks before heading back to Ohio - in the van - in time for work on
Monday. |
FIRST FLIGHT TOUR PACKAGE
AVAILABLE
If you don't want to ride your bike
to the Celebration, check out this
tour being offered by Sun Tours of Albuquerque, NM. The tour
includes stops at the new Smithsonian Dulles Center opening, historic
Williamsburg and the First Flight Centennial Celebration. While this
tour is not affiliated with nor endorsed by the Foundation, we're
pleased to share the information.
We're getting lots of calls and e-mails
about accommodations, tickets, and other logistical issues, so we're
working to share information on getting to the Outer Banks for the
Celebration. Other important resources include The
Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, and for pilots, The
Dare County Regional Airport. |
OFFICIAL FIRST FLIGHT CENTENNIAL
CACHETS AVAILABLE
Cachets are commemorative, collectible presentation cards
and envelopes -- suitable for framing -- each of which features a
reproduction of a First Flight related photograph or art image by a
Carolina artist. What makes them particularly valuable is the special
Kitty Hawk postage stamp and dated postal cancellation from Kitty Hawk, NC
where the Wright Brothers took to the air a century ago. These
cachets and more official commemoratives available at the First Flight
Centennial on-line store.
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P.O Box 80337
Raleigh, NC 27623
Tel: 919-840-2003
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