The monumental events of July 20, 1969, appear to be permanently orbiting amongst the memories of several local residents.
In honor of the event's 45th anniversary, the News Tribune recently asked readers to submit their memories of the day when the first humans - Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin - roamed the moon's previously untouched surface. This request echoes a similar effort by Buzz Aldrin asking individuals to share their personal experiences surrounding the first walk on the moon.
Among several submissions, Elaine Wehnes of Jefferson City shared her recollections of the lunar landing.
Wehnes had spent the day boating with her family on the Maumee River in Ohio and was approaching her senior year in high school, she said.
Because Wehnes grew up only 60 miles from Neil Armstrong's hometown, the event was of a special interest to her family, she said.
"To think someone grew up in a little town in Ohio and was the first American to walk on the moon was really neat. When you live in the Midwest, you think everything (significant) comes from the East or West Coast. It's more special that it's not," she said.
Wehnes and her family eagerly tuned into the television broadcast, which took place at 11 p.m. on a Sunday night, and watched the moon walk unfold, astounded by the possibility of humans on the moon, she said.
"Growing up on a farm, we were just in awe that the world had advanced to that point. We looked at the moon and wondered how someone could really be up there," she said.
Though Wehnes and her family believed in the verity of the first moon exploration, their convictions were challenged by the doubts of their contemporaries, Wehnes said.
"My family believed it was real but some people had skepticism," she said.
Contrary to her vivid remembrance of the day of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Wehnes regards her memories of July 29, 1969 with optimism, she said.
"When JFK was assassinated, you remember what you were doing in that moment but the fact that it (the walk on the moon) was that memorable and not a tragedy but positive makes it that much more special. It was a positive, neat experience to live through," she said.
Faye Roth Belshe of Eldon also recalls the day of the first walk on the moon, she said.
Belshe and Roth traveled with their children to Florida to visit her brother-in-law, she said..
Belshe and her family journeyed to Cocoa Beach and witnessed immense excitement surrounding the event as "a large crowd of spectators gathered on the fishing pier ... all very impressive," Belshe said.
Belshe and her family later viewed the television broadcast, she said.
Belshe commemorated the event afterward by sending a postcard to her brother with a stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service depicting the first walk on the moon, she said.
"It was something I will never forget," she said.