Wapakoneta celebrated a major milestone -- all in their backyard.
The Armstrong Air and Space Museum celebrated their 50th Anniversary on Wednesday, with various activities planned to commemorate the milestone.
"The impact of Neil Armstrong is still felt in our community over fifty years later," said Steve Henderson, Interim Mayor of Wapakoneta. "Many of our residents have always grown up with this unbelievable landmark, and future generations will continue to learn about our hometown hero -- and he never wanted to be called that -- with continued inspiration."
A focus on thanking the workers behind the scenes was also at the forefront of the celebration.
"But today in addition are the heroes who have served for fifty years, on boards, as directors, donors, who made sure that this all happened," said Ohio Senator Matt Huffman. "There are a lot of towns in Ohio that have heroes but don't have museums like this. Wapakoneta does, and you should thank yourself."
And the museum staff is already looking forward to the next 50 years -- and embracing advancement of space exploration.Â
"Ways to modernize some of our exhibits... other ways to do interpretation," said Dante Centuori, Executive Director of the Armstrong Air and Space Museum. "Space is constantly changing and we need to continue to interpret that and deliver to people the stories that are happening in space exploration now, because what is happening now, is going to be part of history in the future."
