[NRV Rocketry] Rocket Boy Homer Hickam (from "October Sky") at the September 27th NRV Rocketry Launch !!! (but keep it hush hush)

[Thomas Weeks]

Hello all!

There is a lot of information to share so we'll try to be brief.  If you still 
have questions, please ask here on the NRVR mail list or email us back: 
	officers at nrvr.org 

Come Meet Our Special Guest!
We are honored to have a true, American hero, Homer Hickam, author of
"Rocket Boys" (which was made into the movie, "October Sky") right here at our 
September 27th launch at Kentland farms!  The full launch is from 10am - 6pm, 
and Homer will be with us from 11am - 1pm. 
	Where: VT Kentland Farms, Blacksburg VA
	Map: http://goo.gl/maps/KPH8D
	When: Saturday, Sept 27th, 10am - 6pm (Homer from 11am-1pm)
	Info & Calendar: http://nrvr.org/

If you would like to meet Homer, get a photo and have him to sign your rocket,  
book, DVD, or child, then bring them to the launch!  You have just over two 
weeks until the launch, so if you are looking for a rocket to buy and build 
for the September launch, please visit our local hobby store Adventure Hobbies 
in CBurg and grab a model rocket while you still can.  We will also have a 
very limited number of new October Sky books and DVDs for sale and signing. If 
you have kids who have not yet seen the inspiring October Sky movie, then 
please try to show them the movie before coming out so they'll always have 
this memory to cherish. :)


HP Rocket Motors:
Ken Allen from www.performancehobbies.com will be at the September launch, so 
be sure to pre-order your HP motors now to make sure you get what you need and 
save money on the hazmat motor shipping fees.  If you need motors in advance 
we can still save on hazmat if we get at least $400 of motors ordered by 9/15 
and arriving by 9/19 (Still confirming this with Ken).  We have also invited 
Adventure Hobbies to come out and set up so that guests can buy model rockets 
and motors too.

This is a fantastic opportunity to come see what model and advanced high power 
rocketry is all about.  VT Rocketry, AIAA and SEDS student organizations will 
also be there and can tell you more about their Aerospace related 
organizations at Virginia Tech and along with Homer tell you how to get into  
Aerospace careers at places like SpaceX and NASA!

There will be a food vendor on site (Eat the family dog) serving high quality, 
all beef dogs, snacks and drinks, and we will have port-a-potties on site too.


**IMPORTANT!** 
This launch needs to be treated as a private, by invitation only event.  We
do not want to cause any concerns for our land owner, VT Agriculture.  The
launch and parking sites are on state property and there are additional costs 
for insurance and several other administrative things to deal with.

Please do not:
 - broadcast this event to your entire church group, school or post it in the
   newspaper.  Doing so could quite possibly cause us to lose this beautiful
   launch site.
 - park anywhere but where directed by our parking / traffic control volunteers 

Please do:
 - tell a few kids, friends, or parents who you feel would be very
    interested in the event (directing them to www.nrvr.org for more info)
 - carpool or combine transportation, since our parking is very limited.


NRVR Members:
We will be looking for volunteers to help with setup on Friday (the day 
before), and on Saturday, the day of the launch, to help fill in on RSO/LCO 
range safety and launch duties. We will also be having a few area schools 
bring kids out and so we will really need help streamlining the loading of 
rocket motors, packing of parachutes and fill out flight cards with the kiddos.  
We also want all NRVR club members to have a chance to meet Homer Hickam and 
to fly their own rockets, so let's all help pitch in on this one!  :)  


Big Thanks!
We are extremely grateful for the generous sponsorship of Rackspace and
VBI (Virginia Tech Bioinformatics) for their sponsorship and caring volunteers 
for this event as well as the VTARA HAM community and other volunteers who are 
helping make this event possible.  Most of all we are especially appreciative 
to Mr. Homer Hickam for taking time from his busy schedule to come meet us 
here in his old alma mater stomping grounds -- a modern American hero to whom 
our kids can truly look to for inspiration.


Continue monitoring this mail list for related questions, launch related 
updates.. or if not on the list, watch the NRVR list archives here:
	http://nrvr.org/pipermail/nrvr/2014-September/


This will be a very exciting day, we hope to see you there!


The NRV Rocketry Officers
Bob Schoner - NRVR Prefect
Thomas "Tweeks" Weeks - NRVR Founder/Secretary
Kevin Shinpaugh - VT Aerospace Representative
> http://nrvr.org/