L to R: Dale Hoggins, Larry Vogel, Mayor Dave Earling, and Dennis Clark. Vogel holds his copy of The New York Times from 50 years ago. Clark, while a high school student, spearheaded the idea of honoring Neil Armstrong with a monument in Edmonds. Hoggins, former Edmonds School District principal, once coached Clark in Little League baseball. Mayor Earling officially re-dedicated the monument. Photo by Julia Wiese, My Edmonds News.

20 July 2019 minus 20 July 1969 = 50 years. And that’s how long it’s been since Neil Armstrong and Edwin (“Buzz”) Aldrin walked on the moon. The whole nation, the whole world is remembering this most amazing event in human history.

In Edmonds, the occasion sparked the creation, dedication, and re-dedication of the Apollo 11 Monument which now sits downtown in the Neil Armstrong Plaza. Never heard of it? Nor had I, but after last Saturday, I’ll never forget it. I found it at the north end of the Edmonds Police Station, just off 5th Street. There, I provided the music for the re-dedication ceremony at 9 a.m. on 20 July—two bugle calls on my Getzen bugle and three songs on my Getzen trumpet:

The gray Apollo 11 Monument in Neil Armstrong Plaza, Edmonds, turned golden at sunset. Photo by Feliks Banel.

• “Assembly”
• “To the Color”
• “Anchors Aweigh” (for Neil Armstrong, Naval Aviator and test pilot)
• “Wild Blue Yonder” (for Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr., Air Force fighter pilot, Korean War, and Michael Collins, Air Force test pilot and author)
• “America the Beautiful”

Apollo 11 Crew (L to R): Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins. NASA photo.

About 40 people attended. Felix Banel, noted Northwest historian and KIRO-FM radio personality, emceed the re-dedication event. Historian Larry Vogel, the keynote speaker, told of how, in his boyhood, he was caught up in the space race with the Soviet Union in the late 1950s through the 1960s. After the moon walk, “I ran out the next morning as soon as the newspapers hit the stands [on Long Island, his home] and picked up a copy of The New York Times—I knew it would be historic. For the first time, the staid Times ran a headline in the largest type they had ever used—‘Men Walk on Moon.’ I’ve kept it safely at the bottom on my sock drawer ever since!”

Mayor Dave Earling reflected on the moon walk and then read the proclamation, re-dedicating the monument. He promised to upgrade the plaza and make it more well-known. Afterwards, I learned that he is a former trumpet player and was a music teacher and the Band Director, Shoreline Community College, 1967-1978. Then he became real estate broker, manager, and owner of Edmonds Realty for 25 years. He lives in Perrinville, where I live also. He owns 5 trumpets, and his favorite is a King.

After the ceremony concluded, I went, as part of the VFW Post 1040 Honor Guard, to Edmonds Cemetery for a memorial service. There I sounded “Taps” immediately after the rifle team rendered the three-volley rifle salute for the deceased Navy veteran.

And from there, I went to busk at the Veterans Plaza next to the Edmonds Saturday Market in downtown Edmonds. I played songs for an hour and a half—I do this two-to-four times a summer to fundraise. All donations are split between VFW Post 1040, Lynnwood, and VFW Post 8870, Edmonds. So far this summer, having busked three times, I’ve raised $140, donated by the generous people who attend the market and come to the adjacent plaza to sit and listen to the trumpet. I’m a lucky man. Please see my posts of 7 July and 11 October 2017, using the Archives in the left column.

Plaque on Apollo 11 Monument, Edmonds. Photo courtesy of Larry Vogel.

Apollo 11 and the Monument

The Apollo 11 monument was designed to resemble a space capsule by local sculptor and Edmonds Community College art teacher, Howard Duell. Made of concrete and brass, it stands more than 11 feet high and weighs about 3,800 pounds. On the front is depicted Armstrong’s moon walk with the American flag planted in the lunar surface in 1969. On the back is the Saturn V rocket on its launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the moon rising behind, as the Apollo 11 mission prepares for launch.

It was originally dedicated on 4 July 1976, our nation’s bicentennial date. Washington Gov. Dan Evans issued a declaration naming the occasion as “Neil Armstrong Plaza Day.” Larry Vogel wrote, “the crowd gathered, the ribbon was cut, and the monument dedicated just in time for the start of the Fourth of July parade.”

Michael Collins was the third member of the Apollo 11 crew. He remained in orbit around the moon inside the Columbia space capsule while Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon, exploring the area and gathering moon rocks for analysis.

My Edmonds News recently published two articles about the original dedication of the monument and the re-dedication ceremonies, and Feliks Banel posted another:

• https://myedmondsnews.com/2019/07/apollo-moon-landing-remembered-in-edmonds-ceremony/
• https://myedmondsnews.com/2019/07/edmonds-commemorates-apollo-11-moon-landing-now-and-then/
• https://mynorthwest.com/1455161/all-over-the-map-neil-armstrong-plaza-edmonds/?fbclid=IwAR3nAdqECWUPi7At3vEYlnM5u_NG5j-hQnQsQRoKqYh8XRe9vZvL0ksP-lA

Photos are courtesy of My Edmonds News, Julia Wiese, photographer, unless otherwise credited. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.

Larry Vogel, Keynote Speaker at re-dedication ceremony, Apollo 11 Monument, Edmonds.

Edmonds Mayor Dave Earling re-dedicates the Apollo 11 Monument

Feliks Banel of KIRO-FM Radio, emcee of the re-dedication ceremony

Color Guard, VFW Post 1040, at re-dedication ceremony, Apollo 11 Monument, Edmonds.

Glenn Ledbetter, VFW Post 1040 Bugler