|
|
|
|
|
The
year 2004 will mark the centennial of the founding of our esteemed organization
here in New York City by a group of prominent explorers. We will celebrate this
year, as we have done for the past one hundred, with our famed Explorers Club
Annual Dinner, which this year will be attended by 1,700 Club members and invited
guests. The Centennial ECAD will be held on Saturday, March 20th, 2004 at 5:00
p.m.
A limited number of Patron and Platinum tickets are still available. To inquire,
please call The Explorers Club at 212-628-8383 and ask for Reservations. The
theme of the dinner will be "A Century at the Forefront of Exploration"
and we have invited a number of our fellow members who have made historical
contributions in the past century. Sir Edmund Hillary, one
of the first two men to summit Mount Everest; Buzz Aldrin,
the second man to set foot on the Moon; and Stephen Squyres,
the scientific director of the Mars Lander Opportunity, are
the featured speakers for the evening. They will be joined on the dais by other
giants in exploration from the 20th century, including Don Walsh,
who in 1960 made history by co-piloting the bathyscaphe Trieste to the deepest
point in the Earth’s oceans (35,800 feet below sea level); Bertrand
Piccard, who completed the first successful around-the-world balloon
flight in 1999; and Sylvia Earle, the noted oceanographer whom
Time magazine called a "hero of the planet" and Steve Fisher
who made
headlines with his solo voyage from California to Hawaii on his one-man windsurfer.
Jim Fowler, the Club’s honorary president, well known
for his appearances on television’s Today and Tonight shows and Mutual
of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, will be one of our masters of ceremonies. Other
emcees include ECAD 2004 chair John Reilly and Explorers Club president Richard
C. Wiese. In good tradition, Fowler will bring several surprise ambassadors
from the animal kingdom. Lastly, a special announcement about a major scientific
breakthrough in the field of paleontology will be made during the evening.
The Annual Dinner is famous for its exotic hors d’oeuvres, which in past
years have included everything from tarantulas, scorpions, and crickets, to
alligators and beaver. This year’s menu features similar delectable, non-endangered
treats...plus a few surprises.
Working with the ECAD, Steve Fisher, one of the few Hawaii
members, has arranged with the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau
for every guest at the sold-out dinner to receive a complimentary orchid lei.
06/29/99 -- Latest Bulletin:
KAANAPLI -- Steve Fisher, the man who set a new world record by being the first to sail a windsurfer from California to Maui, announced details of his new voyage today.
According to Fisher, he will attempt to windsurf across the state of Hawaii, "from Hilo to Hanalei."
"This will be a extremely rough 400 mile trip and has never been done before," he said of the journey.
Fisher's previous windsurfer, "Da Slippa" successfully sailed from Maui to Lihue, Kauai.
"Ask any local sailor and they will tell you that this stretch of water is extremely rough and dangerous," Fisher said, when asked about the difference in distance of this trip versus the oceanic crossing he did last time.
"The purpose of these journeys are to excite and motivate people, especially young people, about conquering the challenges of the world," Fisher said.
He is hoping to obtain a laptop and a satellite modem to correspond with people, especially kids in the classroom, on his future oceanic voyages.
In order to do this, Fisher made a public call to companies, charities and educational foundations for sponsorship of future voyages.
"I think this could be a valuable learning tool for our keikis about the power of the Internet as well as the power of the environment, " he said, noting that schools of Hawaii would especially benefit because ocean voyaging is a integral part of Hawaiian history.
########
|
|
