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| The CMSEC team ready to march on in the Strawberry Days Parade |
Sadly, I missed another Strawberry Days parade. Confession time, I've lived in Pleasant Grove for 24 years and have yet to attend a Strawberry Days parade. Do I love my community? Of course. Do I support my community? Of course. So why haven't I attended Pleasant Grove's social and cultural highlight of the year?
If you know me, then you know the answer. The Space Center either had an overnight camp or a full plate of private missions on the weekend of the parade. Closing for the parade wasn't something I considered. I remember the staff suggesting the Space Center participate in the parade; a suggestion I quickly shot down.
Call me anti-social if you must, but truthfully, my decision not to enter the parade was based on a fear for my personal safety. Think about it; a teacher walking a parade route, wide open to a barrage of rocks, rotten vegetables, and rude comments from hundreds and hundreds of former students presented with a perfect opportunity for payback!
Fast forward to a new Space Center administration and new policies. Mr. Porter has been good at promoting the CMSEC in the Strawberry Days Parade. His attitude toward community involvement is exemplary and needed. Well Done.
Joining the CMSEC in this year's parade was the Telos Discovery Space Center with their custom decaled truck pulling InfiniD's Titan simulator. Amazing! Two Space Centers in the same parade forcefully reminding the good people of Pleasant Grove that their town is known for more than just The Void and the Purple Turtle.
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| The TDSC team in place and ready to roll |
Is Pleasant Grove, with its two space centers, the experiential education capital of the world? I think it might just be. Proudly, both space centers represented themselves well in the parade.
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| The TDSC team with the Titan Simulator |
The next battle is waiting to be waged. It is time for the renaming of 400 East in Pleasant Grove. I propose the street sign at the corner of 400 East and Center Street reflect the home of this growing movement. It is time to call 400 East "Space Center Boulevard". "Williamson Way" would be my second choice (suggested in all humility and with a strong reminder of my one true fault - modesty).
The CMSEC's Brylee Perry Revisits The Troubadour's European Headquarters and Sends Pictures
The Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center's Brylee Perry recently revisited the European headquarters of The Troubadour in Eze Village, France. Could you find a better village for your European headquarters than Eze Village?
Of course, The Troubadour's European headquarters comes with a restaurant and bar. The restaurant provides the staff with a nice little side income to supplement their meager wages. The bar comes in handy when entertaining a source holding tightly to an interesting bit of news or gossip and reluctant to let it go for publication. A glass of French wine has been known to loosen even the tightest lips.
And how can you find The Troubadour's European headquarters? Fly to Paris, catch a train to Eze Village and look for the street marked Place du Planet. Could there be a better street for a space themed blog?
CMSEC Assistant Director Discovers Handy Way to DeWrinkle His Staff Shirt While on a Multi-Day Camp
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| Jon Parker on "The Rack" |
Summer camps can be long, tiresome, and tedious. If one isn't careful, one's clothing will speak for one's state of alertness. Welcoming campers while wearing a wrinkled staff shirt would set the wrong example to the staff, volunteers, and campers as Mr. Jon Parker knows too well. His solution is novel and handy. Even the toughest wrinkles can be erased after a few minutes on the rack in a hot, stuffy simulator control room.
The Imaginarium
