USSRC Announces "Re-name the Reunion" Contest

HUNTSVILLE, AL – The U.S. Space & Rocket Center is preparing for its sixth and final Saturn/Apollo Reunion. Next year, the ever popular mid-summer get-together will have a new name!
“We kept hearing from the former scientists and engineers that the only time they got together anymore was for a funeral, and we really wanted to do something about that,” says Larry Capps, the USSRC’s CEO. “So we held the first reunion in 2004 not only to give these guys a chance to spend some quality time with each other but to educate them, and the community, on our efforts to preserve Huntsville’s Saturn V rocket,” he adds.
Capps says that first reunion helped launch an outpouring of community support for the Save the Saturn project and enabled the Center to not only restore the rocket, but also to upgrade its planned housing from a temporary shelter to the beautiful, new Davidson Center for Space Exploration. Since then, the Saturn/Apollo Reunion has grown to become one of the most popular events held each year at the USSRC.
“So now it’s time to re-name the reunion, and since this has always been a community project, we’re asking the community to select a new name,” Capps said. He added, “We want the new name to help us broaden the appeal for this event and be more inclusive of all the men and women who have worked on both Army and NASA space related programs from Explorer I to Constellation.”
To submit your idea, visit www.spacecamp.com/reunion. Nominations are being accepted now through June 5, 2009. Saturn V Executive Committee members will select five names from those nominations, and the public will be able to vote for their favorite of the Final Five on the same web site from June 20th through July 8th, 2009. The person submitting the winning name will receive a one-year family membership to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, and the new name will be announced at this year’s reunion.
Speaking of which, the Sixth Annual Saturn/Apollo Reunion will be held Friday, July 10, 2009, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Davidson Center for Space Exploration. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for children aged 4-12 years through June 30, 2009. Effective July 1st, tickets will be $25 for adults and $10 for children. Youngsters three years and younger get in free.
Ticket holders may enter the museum as early as 2:00 P.M. on July 10th. The reunion begins at 5:30 P.M. with a barbeque buffet dinner, followed by a brief program at 7:00 P.M.
So visit www.spacecamp.com/reunion to submit your suggestion for the reunion’s new name, and while you’re there save yourself a bundle by purchasing your tickets for this year’s reunion before the price goes up. And don’t forget to log back on after June 20th to vote!

(NOTE: The contact for this release is Al Whitaker, Media Relations Manager, U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama. 256-721-7160. Email: media@spacecamp.com)