Lindbergh’s 1927 visit honored

Springfield borrowed some bunting and celebrated one of the highlights of its history Thursday, marking the 85th anniversary of world-famous aviator Charles Lindbergh’s flight into the town’s airport with his equally famous plane, the Spirit of St. Louis.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120727/NEWS02/707279878

Published July 27, 2012 in the Rutland Herald Lindbergh’s 1927 visit honored By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer NORTH SPRINGFIELD — Springfield borrowed some bunting and celebrated one of the highlights of its history Thursday, marking the 85th anniversary of world-famous aviator Charles Lindbergh’s flight into the town’s airport with his equally famous plane, the Spirit of St. Louis. Pilot Walter Striedieck, of Springfield, portrayed the 25-year-old Lindbergh, wearing a leather flight jacket, aviator’s helmet and goggles, but he flew a 1947 Cessna. He was greeted by Don Gray’s impersonation of former Gov. James Hartness, who was instrumental in establishing the state’s first airport — now Hartness State Airport — in his hometown. And in a time-bending twist, Striedieck’s Lindbergh was greeted by Lindbergh’s real-life daughter Reeve Lindbergh, of Barnet. In reality, she hadn’t been born yet as of July 26, 1927, and her parents hadn’t even met. The celebration Thursday included six Springfield residents who were there 85 years ago along with 30,000 other Vermonters. Back then, overflow crowds swarmed the Springfield landing field, as it was then known, for a chance to see Lindbergh a scant two months after his groundbreaking trans-Atlantic flight. About 250 people were on hand Thursday to watch the re-enactment and hear from the elderly residents. They later watched as Striedieck took Reeve Lindbergh up in a glider he had named the Spirit of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, in a tribute to Reeve’s mother — the first woman to obtain a glider pilot’s license. Striedieck later said Charles and Anne Lindbergh were “the heroes of my life.” Reeve Lindbergh told the crowd that she wouldn’t let her own son, now 25, do something so dangerous as her father attempted back in 1927 at the same age. But his trans-Atlantic flight changed the world, she said. Afterward, people “saw the world as a much smaller place.” Under threatening skies, the celebration Thursday on the tarmac came off without a hitch, a joint project of the Springfield Airport Commission and the Springfield Garden Club. Reeve Lindbergh, an author, had purchased two stones for the garden club’s new memorial garden in memory of her father. Her planned visit for the dedication sparked the anniversary celebration, said club co-chairwoman Sandy MacGillivray. MacGillivray’s husband, Peter, is chairman of the Springfield Airport Commission and a longtime private pilot, and the celebration was on. Peter MacGillivray said the town had borrowed the flag bunting from West Windsor. There were two proclamations — one from the town and one from the 2012 Vermont Legislature. There were also recollections from older residents. One woman, Margaret Spaulding, who was 6 at the time of Charles Lindbergh’s visit, said her father sold the land to Hartness that eventually became the airport. Hartness was persistent about how a landing field would be important to Springfield, then a bustling industrial town. Spaulding’s sister was born in a house that used to sit where a runway was later built, she said, and her brother loved to run in the fields that later became the landing field. Bob Beardsley told the gathering he got to wear Lindbergh’s famous leather flight jacket that day, July 26, 1927, because his uncle was married to one of Hartness’ daughters. Beardsley said one of his most vivid memories was that the Spirit of St. Louis had a wicker seat. Helen Childs, 99, who now lives in Sanbornton, N.H., with her daughter, said she was 14 years old at the time of the visit. She was old enough to know the visit was important, she said, and girl enough to be impressed with the handsome young aviator. “He was tall, and he had tousled hair and he was nice looking,” said Childs, getting a big laugh from the audience. Childs said she later got a ride from a Springfield pilot and was amazed to look down and see her mother hanging out clothes. But Childs said her brush with aviation almost turned fatal. In a flight later that day, the pilot crashed his plane and died. Marion Harlow and Marguerite Davis also recalled the day and reflected on what a big impression Lindbergh made on the town for years to come. Don Whitney, now 89, and one of the youngest at the 1927 event, said he remembered watching the plane come out of the mountains and land. But equally impressive was the traffic jam of Model T Fords, he said. A banquet was held for Lindbergh on the evening of July 26, 1927, with 500 people on hand. Fred Pond, a volunteer with the Vermont Historical Society, was there Thursday to film the celebration and make plans to interview and record the surviving 1927 visitors. He said the society wanted to know if there was interest in digitizing a nine-minute newsreel of Lindbergh’s Springfield visit. The reel was recorded by Springfield resident Fred Wheeler, and it was played 85 years later on a television in the airport’s terminal. The celebration drew Lindbergh fans from all over the region. Dino Vlahakis, a retired Pan Am pilot now living in the Lebanon, N.H., region, took photographs. Lindbergh served on the Pan Am board of directors, Vlahakis said, and he once had Anne Morrow Lindbergh on one of his flights to Paris. Vlahakis, who said he has been flying since 1955, said Lindbergh and his wife did more to increase the public’s interest in aviation than anyone he knew. Reeve Lindbergh, daughter of Charles Lindbergh, gets a hug from actor Walter Striedieck, playing the role of the renowned aviator, at Hartness State Airport in Springfield on Thursday. Photo: Vyto Starinskas / Staff Photo