I’ll be traveling to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville for a competition two weekends from now (arriving sometime the 11th and leaving sometime the 13th). I won’t have any time to go off to session or anything but if there are folks in that area, it would be very cool to meet you. I’ll be pretty busy with competition stuff but I can bring a whistle and trade a few tunes, and you might find it fun to watch the moonbuggy races.
Nice to hear you’ll be in Huntsville. Send me an e-mail and I’ll give you my phone#. When you get here, give me a call when you have a free moment. It’s always nice to meet or at least speak to other CF members.
Ava,
Welcome to Huntsville! Lots of whistlers here. If you come in a day early you could sit in on our usual Thursday session. If not, we can probably round up a crew to drop by the races.
There are indeed several of us mostly lurking around. At my last count (As of page 30 in the membership list), there are seven of us in Huntsville and one more in a town just south. I’m not sure how many of us locals have actually met! Anyway, please get in touch when your plans are more developed. My e-mail link here is good.
This has nothing to do with Huntsville or moonbuggies, but I thought you might enjoy knowing that as I sit here at my desk, through the closed door I can hear my 11 year-old daughter (home from school because of an ice storm) in the other room at the piano picking out “Dallas Skies.”
I am also a whistler in Huntsville and I work at Marshall Space Flight center where the moonbuggy races are held. They are quite an event.
Mike, Denny, and I play together in a local Irish group. Maybe we can all arrange to see you at the races.
Greetings to all in North Alabama. I live in Boaz, about an hour south of Huntsville, and I own and operate a little music store there right on the main drag. We don’t stock a lot of Irish instruments, but we do have a few bodhrans, whistles, flutes, etc. The store’s right on Hwy 431, right across from the Rodeway Inn. It’s called Guitar Shop, and there’s a big guitar sign on the front of the store. BTW, one of your Huntsville session members was in a couple of weeks ago and he invited me to your Thursday session. I can’t wait to come. He also gave me a CD of your music which I’ve enjoyed very much.
For anyone who is wondering, I’m back with no broken bones.
Howard, it was great to meet you! I’m sorry I didn’t have more time. Please let me know if you hear of any race footage available. Too bad you couldn’t stay for the second run - we finished the course, and I think it was probably rather entertaining to watch!
Beth, I wish I could have seen the second run since you were one of the drivers, but as I said, my Saturday chores got in the way. BTW, for those who don’t know, I found Beth to be a delightful young lady who will undoubtedly be a good mechanical engineer.
The moonbuggy races are held in Huntsville, Alabama where the original NASA Moon Buggy was developed. Each year students design and build a moonbuggy to given specifications and race them over a course which involves rough terrain and hills. Each moonbuggy is non-motorized and must be driven (peddled) by a male and female driver. There is a High School and College division.
The races are well worth seeing for those in the area.
Beth,
Sorry for being a no-show. I wasn’t able to make it out on Saturday. Glad to hear you made it down and back safely. I was really looking forward to meeting you and checking out the races. Needless to say, if you (or any other CFers) make it down this way again, we have about 20 folks who will use any excuse to spend a day playing tunes.
