Scott Brocato:
Recently, or last week, there were not one, not two, but three 9/11 Remembered ceremonies in Alamogordo.
Spencer Fordin:
Yes, sir, there were a trio of them.
One of them was out at Holloman Air Force Base on the morning of September 11th. A group of airmen gathered at the air park and they listened to remarks from Colonel Michael Mullen about what the event meant, both when it happened and what it means in American history 25 years later.
Later that evening on the same day on September 11th at 7.30 p.m., there was an Otero County remembrance ceremony at the home of a local firefighter who was actually a first responder in New York on the actual date. So a bunch of local fire companies came out and a bagpiper played Amazing Grace and they did a bunch of things appropriate for the date.
The next morning, September 12th at 8.46 a.m., a bunch of firefighters from the city, Alamogordo City Fire Department, climbed the stairs at the Space Museum. They had to do, I think, 12 or 13 circuits of four or five floors to approximate what the first responders in New York would have done on the morning of 9/11.
Scott Brocato:
Wow, that's fantastic. Speaking of local firefighters, he city commission is seeking money for an expansion of their firehouses.
Spencer Fordin:
Yes, fire station number two. The renovation has been going on for quite some time, but they just recently made a request for an additional $143,000 for the city commission. It seems that one of the driveways there, it's in asphalt and they need it to actually be in concrete because the fire engines are too heavy for asphalt. They would generally crack the asphalt if they do that instead of putting it in hard concrete. The city commission is still considering that and they're going to figure it out at the next city commission meeting, whether they'll go forward on that.
Scott Brocato:
And finally, our final story, a little preview of the Space Museum's 50th anniversary that's coming up.
Spencer Fordin:
Yes, the 50th anniversary is going to be held on October 23rd, 2026, and they're going to induct a new class into the Space Hall of Fame that's housed there. It's been a couple of years since the last induction ceremony, and this year they're going to be inducting Senator Mark Kelly and his twin brother Scott Kelly; they were astronauts, so they went into space. They're going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame along with mathematician Creola Catherine Johnson, who you may remember from the film Hidden Figures. Also Dee O'Hara, who is the first nurse to take care of America's astronauts and make sure that they were in working order to go into space. Swiss astrophysicist Michel Mayor and Mercury 13, a bunch of women who were tested to be pilots but never actually went into space. Actually, one of them did decades later. But they're all going to be recognized for their groundbreaking, remarkable accomplishments in the field of space.
Scott Brocato:
That sounds great. We'll talk about that probably in a couple of weeks again when we get closer to the event. In the meantime, where can folks read about those stories and more?
Spencer Fordin:
They can read about all these developments on almagordonews.com.
Scott Brocato:
Spencer Ford, managing editor for Alamogordo News. Thanks for joining us today.
Spencer Fordin:
Thank you so much, Scott.