Vol. 4 No. 1 Winter 1997-98 EXHIBIT CENTER PROVES STRONG DRAW DURING BALLOON FESTIVAL WEEKEND A steady stream of visitors—some 500 in all—circulated through the Weapons Exhibit Center Saturday and Sunday, November 8 & 9, the weekend of Flidge- crest's first annual Balloon Festival. It was a mix of out-of-towners, enticed to the Upper Mojave to watch the brilliantly colored "gentle giants of the air" drift along the Sierra Nevada skyline, and Indian Wells Valley residents. filling in the hours between the Festival's early-morning and late-afternoon main events. More than one "local" was overheard to say something like. "I never even knew this place was here!" The official Balloon Festival Committee had con- tacted the Foundation some weeks earlier and re- quested that the Exhibit Center be open as one of the sites the Committee had identified as prime IWV visitor attractions. CLMF Board Member John DiPol took the lead for our participation, first of all arranging through NAWCWPNS-NAWS' Public Affairs Office for the additional hours of public ac- cess. He improvised some directional road signs and posted them during the weekend along the route from the Main Gate to the Exhibit and Con- ference Center at the east end of Blandy Avenue. Board Members Dick Boyd and Jack Russell teamed up with John as docents. From 10 to 4 Saturday (when approximately 350 visitors came through) and from 1 to 4 Sunday afternoon (when the visitor count was about 150.) docents were on-station in the display areas and the entrance lobby. They welcomed people as they came in, pointed out water fountain and restroom locations, and responded to questions like: "How did the Navy end up here in the middle of the desert?"—a great lead-in for an impromptu review of the origins of the Navy's WWII rocketry program at Cal Tech, and the continuing advantages of our unique environment for air weaponry RDT&E. Many visitors were drawn to the videotapes that ran continuously on the confer- ence room's large-screen videoplayer. These included a taped helicopter tour of China Lake's far-flung facilities, and a survey of the full-spectrum capabilities that have empowered the base to make so many invaluable contributions to our na- tion's military preparedness. Several times it was standing-room-only for these video presentations; occasionally a viewer approached a docent and shared reminiscences of serving here. (See BALLOON FESTIVAL, p. 4) It. , OCR Text: Vol. 4 No. 1 Winter 1997-98 EXHIBIT CENTER PROVES STRONG DRAW DURING BALLOON FESTIVAL WEEKEND A steady stream of visitors—some 500 in all—circulated through the Weapons Exhibit Center Saturday and Sunday, November 8 & 9, the weekend of Flidge- crest's first annual Balloon Festival. It was a mix of out-of-towners, enticed to the Upper Mojave to watch the brilliantly colored "gentle giants of the air" drift along the Sierra Nevada skyline, and Indian Wells Valley residents. filling in the hours between the Festival's early-morning and late-afternoon main events. More than one "local" was overheard to say something like. "I never even knew this place was here!" The official Balloon Festival Committee had con- tacted the Foundation some weeks earlier and re- quested that the Exhibit Center be open as one of the sites the Committee had identified as prime IWV visitor attractions. CLMF Board Member John DiPol took the lead for our participation, first of all arranging through NAWCWPNS-NAWS' Public Affairs Office for the additional hours of public ac- cess. He improvised some directional road signs and posted them during the weekend along the route from the Main Gate to the Exhibit and Con- ference Center at the east end of Blandy Avenue. Board Members Dick Boyd and Jack Russell teamed up with John as docents. From 10 to 4 Saturday (when approximately 350 visitors came through) and from 1 to 4 Sunday afternoon (when the visitor count was about 150.) docents were on-station in the display areas and the entrance lobby. They welcomed people as they came in, pointed out water fountain and restroom locations, and responded to questions like: "How did the Navy end up here in the middle of the desert?"—a great lead-in for an impromptu review of the origins of the Navy's WWII rocketry program at Cal Tech, and the continuing advantages of our unique environment for air weaponry RDT&E. Many visitors were drawn to the videotapes that ran continuously on the confer- ence room's large-screen videoplayer. These included a taped helicopter tour of China Lake's far-flung facilities, and a survey of the full-spectrum capabilities that have empowered the base to make so many invaluable contributions to our na- tion's military preparedness. Several times it was standing-room-only for these video presentations; occasionally a viewer approached a docent and shared reminiscences of serving here. (See BALLOON FESTIVAL, p. 4) It. , China Lake Museum,China Laker - Newsletter,China Laker 1990s,China Laker 1997,Vol+4+No+1+Winter+1997-98.pdf,Vol+4+No+1+Winter+1997-98.pdf Page 1, Vol+4+No+1+Winter+1997-98.pdf Page 1