Catch Up for 11 May

Due to various reasons, I have not posted here in just over a month So, here is a catch up on my life lately:

• On Saturday, 13 April, I went to Monticello, Iowa for Fleacon, IPMS/Alexander Lippisch's model contest and swap meet. My two entries--a Bren Gun Carrier and a 6pdr Anti-Tank Gun--each earned Bronze Awards. It was fun seeing some fellow scale modelers there.
• The next day, Julie and I cheered on St. Louis CITY SC to a 1-0 victory over Austin FC at CITYPARK. Before the match, we posed with Kevin Marshall for one of his selfies.
• I attended the IPMS/Gateway meeting on Tuesday, 16 April.
• The following Saturday, 20 April, I refereed youth soccer matches at World Wide Technology Soccer Park. After the games, I went to 2nd Shift Brewing to join other St. Louligans in a watch party for St. Louis CITY SC's match at Sporting Kansas City. It ended in a 3-3 draw.
• The next day, Julie and I visited the Midwest Model Vehicle Association--St. Louis Spring model contest and swap meet at Machinists Hall in Bridgeton. There, I dropped off some flyers for IPMS/Gateway's Invitational on 14 September and bought an aircraft kit.
• Saturday morning, 27 April, I refereed youth soccer tournament matches at Creve Coeur Park Soccer Complex.
• That night, Julie and I went to a trivia night at the Crestwood Community Center. It was being held by Eliot Unitarian Chapel. Our team finished second among some 18 teams there and I won two baskets of books in the raffle. We had such a fun time there.
• I was back at Creve Coeur Park Soccer Complex the next morning to referee more youth soccer tournament matches.
• Friday night, 3 May, Julie and I went to the Saint Louis Science Center for its First Fridays event, which this month celebrated the 2000s. We saw the documentary Cities of the Future, then the animated feature Shrek. Julie and I had fun with these movies.
• One week ago, 4 May, I assisted in cash wrap and provided maps to attendees at the Greater St. Louis Book Fair, held at Greensfelder Recreation Complex at Queeny Park. I was happy to volunteer at this fund-raising event, which I have done for several years. 
• The following afternoon, 5 May, I refereed youth soccer matches at World Wide Technology Soccer Park.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

IPMS Alexander Lippisch: Lippisch Model Club

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

Eliot Unitarian Chapel: Home (eliotchapel.org)

Saint Louis Science Center: Saint Louis Science Center – Connect with curiosity. (slsc.org)

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer (stlouligans.com)

Greater St. Louis Book Fair: Greater St. Louis Book Fair (stlouisbookfair.org)

IPMS Gateway Chapter: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)

One Giant Leap Plus 50 Years

This past weekend, I and others on this planet celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon (20 July 1969), by the crew of Apollo 11. Yesterday afternoon (20 July), I went to the Saint Louis Science Center (https://www.slsc.org/) where they had a celebration of the moon landing. Various groups had tables with information and interactive programs aimed at children, including St. Louis Space Frontier (https://stlouisspacefrontier.org/), St. Louis Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (https://engage.aiaa.org/stlouis/home), Wings of Hope (https://wingsofhope.ngo/), and Schlafly Beer (http://www.schlafly.com/).

I also took in other displays at the Science Center, including a display of lunar photos taken by an orbiter and examples of the Mercury and Gemini spacecraft built by McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis.

Today, the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) celebrated the "One giant leap" of Apollo 11 at its meeting. Due to flooding at its regular venue of Creve Coeur Airport (http://crevecoeurairport.com/), this was held at the National Museum of Transportation (https://transportmuseumassociation.org/) in Des Peres, Missouri. Two people who worked on the Saturn V rocket used on Apollo 11--Bill Nasse and Don Nagel--spoke about their involvement on the project and its impact on the the USA and on technology. There was a very nice crowd at this meeting, along with plenty of cake and exhibits.

This was quite a weekend for me. I was 5 years old on 20 July 1969, yet I remember much of what happened with and around the first human moon landing. Perhaps, this was the greatest event that occurred in my lifetime.

Later.

Volunteer Sunday, Movie Tonight, and Brian in Town

I had a busy day of volunteering last Sunday (24 June). First, I was in downtown St. Louis with about 100 other Enterprise (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) employees in marching in the St. Louis PrideFest Parade (https://pridestl.org/). After waiting in the staging area for about two hours, we stepped off onto Market Street for the 12-block long parade. We had a truck from Enterprise Truck Rental (https://www.enterprisetrucks.com/truckrental/en_US.html#_ga=2.97405727.1020205400.1530151678-1638779697.1529286224) and three convertibles from Enterprise Car Sales (https://www.enterprisecarsales.com/) with us in the parade. There was a great crowd there, and we got a great response from the crowd. (Perhaps, this response to us was helped by the candy we were throwing out to the crowd.) I was very pleased and happy to march again (my third Pride Fest Parade) to show my support--and Enterprise's--for Lesbian Bisexual Gay Transgendered Queer (LBGTQ) people, including those I know and have come across in life. I am proud to be a straight ally for LBGTQ rights.

Right after the parade ended, I got into my car--parked at St. Louis Union Station (http://www.stlouisunionstation.com/)--and drove to the Kirkwood Community Center (http://www.kirkwoodmo.org/content/City-Departments/1856/community-center.aspx). There, I was a volunteer at Festa Junina, a Brazilian folk festival presented by Viva Brasil STL (https://www.vivabrasilstl.org/). After checking in, I served as a floating volunteer, mostly clearing dining tables. Festa Junina was very nice; this festival included Brazilian food, children's games, a silent auction, and Brazilian music played by a disk jockey (DJ). They also had Quadrillha (a Brazilian form of square dancing), for children and then for adults, plus a demonstration of Capoeira (Brazilian martial arts) by a local group, Capoeira Luanda St. Louis (http://www.capoeirastl.org/). I then helped to clean up and pack up after the festival. Overall, a long but satisfying afternoon.

Back at work Monday morning, it was busy, but we got it done. During my lunch break, I contacted customer service at CREDO Mobile (https://www.credomobile.com/) regarding my replacement mobile phone. After about 40 minutes on the phone, they were able to fix the problem with my phone not getting service. The SIM card for this phone was not set to my phone number. CREDO Mobile fixed the problem at their end and my phone is working good now.

Off work today, I went downtown to help Mom find the hotel where my brother Brian (http://www.bddrums.com/) stayed the night. He arrived the night before with Melissa Etheridge (https://melissaetheridge.com/), for whom Brian plays drums. Brian spent the day at home with Mom and I. That included watching some FIFA World Cup (https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/) matches on TV. (Vamos Brasil!) Etheridge performs tomorrow night at the Sheldon Concert Hall (http://www.thesheldon.org/). Looking forward to that. More on the concert in my next post.

Tonight, I went to the Saint Louis Science Center (https://www.slsc.org/) to join with other Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) members in watching a screening of "Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas" (https://www.slsc.org/omnimax/aircraft-carrier/) on the center's OMNIMAX theater. It was a terrific documentary of modern aircraft carrier operations, filmed during a RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) exercise.

Later