Dieter Erhard, proprietor of ArtBoat Seadrift, and member of Erlangen-Schloft, Germany Rotarian Club, created his artwork “Legend” as a tribute to the aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart. It has been exhibited at several venues in Germany, and now is being viewed in Guatemala.
Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) was an aviation pioneer and women’s rights activist from the USA. She was the first woman to cross the Atlantic in a non-stop flight. She was hailed as a heroine and voted “Woman of the Year”, even though she was not at the controls of the plane. This had flown the pilot Wilmer Stultz. Four years later, she was the first woman to cross the Atlantic in a solo flight. She took off on 20 May 1932 from Newfoundland towards Paris in a modified Lockheed Vega 5B. Due to technical problems and the increasingly deteriorating weather, however, she did not reach Paris, but had to make an emergency landing near Londonderry in Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, she made it and received the gold medal of the National Geographic Society from US President Herbert C. Hoover.
Erhard’s “Legend” is now display at the Guatemala City airport, where it was delivered along with a container of medical aid supplies packed by the Erlangen Rotary clubs. Josef Fischer from RC Guatemala-Norte and Dieter Erhard were already waiting at the site in Guatemala and immediately began distributing the relief supplies.