Amelia Earthart, played by Dianna Taylor Stanger has been found ladies and gentlemen! Can you guess Where in the World Amelia Earhart Is?
The night was upon us and as I neared Calhoun County Airport, I was greeted by a beautiful sunset signaling the beginning of a fantastic evening. Even though I had witnessed the “making” and been behind-the-scenes, as I walked into the hangar, the finished product absolutely took my breath away. It was difficult to imagine that hours before we were surrounded by storm clouds, hail, winds up to 25mph and worry.
As guests arrived at the 2012 Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic School Gala, they were presented with their boarding pass and escorted to their plane (table). All of the planes were appropriate to the time period beginning with: Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Vega 5B, Lockheed L-10 Electra/Flying Laboratory, Lockheed L-1049/Super Constellation, Lockheed 5-C Vega/ Winnie Mae, Spirit of St. Louis, Douglas World Cruiser, Douglas DC-3, Wright Flyer, Bell X-1, Hughes H-1 Racer, Hughes H-4 Hercules, better known as the Spruce Goose, B-17 Flying Fortress or Memphis Belle, Consolidated B-24 Liberator, P-38 Lightning, P-51D Mustang, otherwise called the Glamorous Glenn III, Sikorsky S-42 dubbed the Pan-Am Clipper III and Martin 140 China Clipper.
The evening began with our host, Gustave Reuche (GR), played by Mark Daigle, welcoming all to Prime Time Live, America’s #1 Television Show, which brings viewers in-depth coverage of important events. His goal was to interview people and track down Amelia Earhart.
The 39 year-old icon was considered a world famous aviator, risk taker and public relations machine. Many thought she flew around the world for publicity.
Earhart was no stranger to completing challenges; she set the woman’s altitude record of 14,000 feet in 1922. In 1930, she set a woman’s speed record of 181 miles per hour; in 1931, she set an autogiro altitude record of 18,451 feet; in 1932 she was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and accomplished many other great feats. On this particular evening we were gathered for her most famous challenge: she wanted to be the first woman to fly around the world.
On June 1, 1937 she and navigator, Fred Noonan took flight from Oakland, California, flew 5 continents and 20,000 miles of which 2,556 miles were over open ocean. On July 2, she radioed in to the US Coast Guard at Itasca about 200 miles from Howland Island. Earhart asked for them to take bearing on her signal. However she could not hear their response. At that point the pilots were on their own and her voice was last heard via radio at 8:45 am. It’s unknown if the plane sank quickly or slowly descended onto the ocean floor. One researcher stated, “Why would she not have been screaming, ‘SOS!’?” Perhaps she planned fly to a nearby island?
Throughout the years there have been a multitude of plausible theories. Some think she and Noonan fell into the hands of the Japanese. Others think they died as castaways and that the plane crashed 300 miles from where originally estimated. Did she come back under an alias? Was it a massive government cover-up? The US Navy presumed she ran out of gas before reaching Howland Island and closed the case. Maybe they were down to a few hours of gas, not mere minutes.
The most unique aspect of the event was the location and ambiance; the hangar glowed, echoed enthusiastic chatter and pronounced unanimous excitement. Everyone was abuzz, quickly visualizing strategies to figure how to pinpoint the exact location in which Amelia would be found. Friends united, imagining and contemplating where she could be.
You see, a prize was to be awarded to the guest that chose the correct location of Amelia Earhart whereabouts on a world map. The map was been divided into 245 sections was projected at the front of the hangar. The location was kept top secret, and everyone was yearning to identify the exact location. The situation was incredibly thought out and exquisitely executed.
Calhoun County Airport manager, Dianna Stanger commented, “The Our Lady of the Gulf 2012 Gala was one of the most entertaining evenings I have had the pleasure of participating in. The evening was fun, well organized and greatly benefited the school; the people that made it possible should be congratulated for the outstanding contribution they made.”
The night continued and GR interviewed an aeronautical engineer, US Navy Lieutenant, a house wife and a redneck. All of whom claimed to know Earhart’s whereabouts. Finally, at long last, Amelia’s biggest fan, played by Veva Saylor, took the stage. “Amelia is found in the hearts of all people who dream of taking to the skies and knowing the freedom of flight!” she said. And suddenly the heroine, played by Dianna Stanger appeared. The crowd cheered, sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to hear what had occurred on that morning flight over the Pacific Ocean. As she told her story, everyone was eager to find out her final destination, and then she gave her coordinates… and the passenger that chose #174 — Robert Flemming was the lucky winner!
Well folks, you missed quite a flight! I had a blast at last year’s gala, which was themed, A Night on the Titanic; this year’s gala was fantastic and I cannot wait to find out what next year’s theme will be! On behalf of Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic School and Calhoun Air Center, thank you to all that were involved, volunteered and attended. Good day!
