Monument To Be Erected Thursday, Annual Program Friday

Friday marks the 107th anniversary of the first flight at Kitty Hawk, NC, and the First Flight Society has a series of events scheduled to celebrate the day.

Thursday, a pylon at the Monument to a Century of Flight will be dedicated to Women in Aviation.  This event will occur at 3pm and begin at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kitty Hawk.   Major General Jerry Rogers, President of the Friends of the Monument will open the ceremony.  Attendees include:

• Dr. Peggy Chabrian, President and Founder, Women in Aviation International
• Ms. Susan Larson, International President, The Ninety-Nines, Inc.
• Ms. Betty Shotton, CEO and Founder, LiftOff Leadership
• Ms. Betty Skelton Erde, First Flight Shrine honoree for 2010
• Ms. Patty Wagstaff, National & International Aerobatic Champion
• other aviators and First Flight Society members

Following remarks by selected guests, the event will move to the Monument to a Century of Flight, across the highway from the Hilton.  The pylon dedication is open to the public. The Wright Brothers Anniversary Banquet is also planned for Thursday night.

A full slate of events is scheduled for Friday morning, including a placing or wreaths at the historical site, along with a telling of the Wright Brothers story by Darrell Collins, Historian Wright Brothers National Memorial. The society will hold its annual luncheon and meeting at noon at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kitty Hawk, with Guest Speaker Dr. Julie Hedgepeth Williams, a journalism professor at Samford University. She received a B.A. in English and history from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, and a Master's in journalism and a Ph.D. in mass communications from the University of Alabama. Dr. Williams is the author of the new book, "Wings of Opportunity:  The Wright Brothers in Montgomery, Alabama, 1910."

FMI: www.firstflight.org