I have this old photo which I took in April, 1978 of none
other than NAR pioneer Bill Roe (NAR #13).
Sorry for the bad image – at the time, I had a really cheap
camera, and did not possess much in the way of photography skills.
The club I belonged to – Skywatchers / ROMAR, held an annual
Spring demonstration launch at a shopping center at one of the busiest
intersections in Colorado Springs. The
demos were sponsored by the Ru-Jan Party and Hobby Shop, located in the strip
mall.
Bill would occasionally make a rare appearance at some of our
club launches, but we were particularly delighted when he showed up at this
public demo.
Sporting his familiar grey jumpsuit and red NAR cap, Bill
had a great time, hanging around and enjoying watching the model rocket demo
flights.For this photo, I caught Bill being Bill – kneeling down and helping a young club member with prepping one of the demo birds. Mr. Roe was all about that – making sure that rocketeers young and old alike, did things the proper way. He was such a great guy to know and be around, as he exuded such a huge love for the hobby and sport of model rocketry.
I never saw Bill again after this demo event. In fact, I am reasonably sure that this demo launch may have been the very last rocketry event Bill attended before he passed in 1980.
I feel very privileged at having been there.
And, I’m very glad I still possess an old blurry photograph of
Bill to share with the model rocket community….