Mediatech Foundation

Craig Ellison shared some of his photos from Friday night’s event.

I’d like to thank the Hunterdon County Freeholders for give us access to the historic court house, where Lindbergh once stood, to celebrate the accomplishment was really the cause of the entire trial in the first place. It is important to understand Charles Lindbergh’s life and politics as a whole. He was a very controversial and celebrated figure, and to be fair, isn’t the most liked individual because of his politics.

We were celebrating the flight — not the trial — although they are inseparable. Like it or not, it is an indelible part of Hunterdon County history. We urge all visitors to this site who are interested in the trial and the life of Charles Lindbergh to understand the history of the times, and the complexity of his life. A good place to start may be wikipedia, but consider the source.

Also, thanks to educator/historian Harry Kazman for the footage  and Q/A of the actual flight, and Under Sheriff George Muller for the wonderful tour (and letting the kids in the jail cells!!!)  and panelists Will Richardson and Jon Pennington for their wisdom during the panel. Oh — the screen (from HCRHS) and the projector (from Software School) were also essential.

I’m pleased to add a new item to our agenda Friday night. Hunterdon County Undersheriff George Muller will provide a tour of the historic jail cell that held Bruno Hauptmann during the famous trial.  Learn more about the amazing, controversial life of Charles Lindbergh.

We’d like to thank George for his willingness to do this tour. The tour will take place around 8 PM, following the panel and flight simulation.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mediatech Announces Details for 5th Anniversary Celebration and Open House and Second Trans-Atlantic Flight Attempt

EVENT 1: Reliving The Flight of the Spirit of St. Louis
August 7, 2009, Friday night, from 7 to 9 PM at the Historic Court House, 114 Main Street, Flemington (with the large, white pillars in front). Free and open to the public.
7:00 pm. Greeting by Mayor Bob Hauck, who will present a letter from Governor Corzine.
7:10 pm. Presentation: The Flight of the Spirit of St. Louis, moderated by Harry Kazman, Producer, Famous Trials Theater. The presentation will include:
• Rarely seen newsreel footage.
• Little known facts about the flight.
• Introducing Mediatech’s flight simulator pilots: Alex, Alez and Sam.
• An attempted real-time takeoff with the flight simulator.
• A preview of what the Mediatech pilots will face in the 33.5 hour marathon.
7:30 Presentation: The State of Mediatech, by Warren Buckleitner.
7:35 Panel Discussion with Mediatech’s Board of Trustees and Invited Guests. “Mediatech’s Past and Future” with Sandra Borucki, Will Richardson, Jon Pennington and other Mediatech board members. Mediatech has never been busier. Last month, there were 605 visitors who checked out 444 titles, doubling the June numbers. Much of the recent traffic has been due to the increased cooperation with the Flemington Free Public Library who has helped with circulation and staffing. This will be an open discussion, and ideas for improvement are encouraged.
8:00 PM Tour of the famous courthouse jail cells (tentatively planned).
8:15 – 9:30 Reception and Refreshments at Mediatech (down the street at 118 Main Street, 2nd Floor. Enter on the Maple Street door).

EVENT 2: Open House and the Flight Simulation
August 8 – 9, 2009, Saturday and Sunday.
7:30 AM Saturday. Mediatech’s doors will open for the 7:52 AM takeoff. Doors will remain open to the pubic throughout the day Saturday until 11 PM at night. Anyone is welcome to come and watch the flight in progress, use the Mediatech’s computers, and (if the pilots allow are comfortable) try flying the Spirit of St. Louis.
11:00 PM. Doors will close; while the pilots fly
9:00 AM Sunday. Mediatech opens for the remainder of the flight. Public welcome to help and fly.
3:30 PM Estimated landing time. Come and see the buzzing of the Eifel tower and attempt at a perfect landing, on French soil.

Here are some images from our second week of programming camp. We all learned that dogs can “scratch” too, and that everyone’s a goose. If you want to see the projects, visit the link to the gallery in the next post. Congratulations to all our young Scratch scholars.

You can see the finished products from Week 1 of our Scratch page, here:

http://scratch.mit.edu/users/mediatechfoundation

Greetings.
We’re looking forward to seeing you on Monday, July 6 at 9:30 AM for Scratch camp at Mediatech. Note that the second week, July 13, still has few spots open.

PLEASE BRING OR HAVE READY
1. A USB flash drive to save work.
2. An email account for your child. If your child has an email account in advance, it will help. This will be used to setup an account on the scatch website. If you like, we can have your child create a free gmail account.
3. A $5 suggested donation per day (or $25 for the week), to be placed in the donation jar on the front desk. You can drop it in at any time. This is optional. If you have trouble paying, don’t worry about it. This money is used to pay the coaches; any leftovers go into Mediatech’s general bank account.
4. A signed permission slip, with your contact information.

PLEASE NOTE:
1. Friday at 10:30 is Demo day, when we’ll be showing your off your child’s work. Anyone is welcome to attend.
2. Dropoff is 9:30 AM, Pickup is 12:00 Noon.
3. Check the website — www.mediatech.org for any updates. If you have any questions, send me an email at warren@mediatech.org.

We have a great lineup of new games today, game testers. At 11 AM today, UPS delivered an advance copy of the next Harry Potter title, for testing. We’re running it right now in the office, and — so far, so great. We also have Tap It! and others. 3:30 PM, this afternoon.