Endeavour story

Dear Editor:Last September, the space shuttle Endeavour soared over Southern California and into the memories of millions on the ground, launching millions of stories. I sent a letter to the Patriot about my own experience as I waited for Endeavour in Downey Landing's parking lot. I had no camera that day, but a family nearby, on vacation from Eureka, took pictures of the glorious fly-over and said they would send me copies. Sure enough, thrilling photos arrived with a little note that their oldest son was going to write a story about his Endeavour experience for a PTA contest, and I told the mother I'd love to see it some day. Last week the mail brought another packet from Eureka. The mom wrote, "I just wanted to tell you a little bit about my son Seth's story. He wrote his account of what happened and we submitted to the PTA Reflections contest. It is a national contest that begins at the school level. After all the entires were reviewed by the judges, two literature pieces from our school were selected to move on to the district level. Seth's was one of them. The district consists of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. "Of all the literature pieces submitted in the literature category for children in kindergarten through second grade, Seth's was the ONE that got selected to move on to the state level. I haven't heard anything from the state yet. We were pretty proud of him. He was presented with a medal and a certificate. I have attached the story so you can read it." Seth's story is titled, "The Day I Saw History," and here are a few sentences: "...Endeavour is being carried by a plane. It is on top of the plane. Today is Endeavour's last flight. Now I am at the Downey Landing...The crowd is very excited. Everyone is very excited. That was the best day of my life..." Joyce Sherwin Downey

********** Published: March 14, 2013 - Volume 11 - Issue 48