As many of you will know on Saturday May 26th 2012 there will be the 50th anniversary memorial service for Continental Flight 11 in Unionville, Missouri. Many plan to attend the event and Mr Duane Crawford, the local man who kick-started the original push for a memorial is the principal organizer of this event. Duane wanted me to pass on some details of the memorial service to all of you via here.
Firstly Duane's email address is:
crawford@nemr.net. This is the best place to contact Mr Crawford for arranging your visit to Unionville. He will handle all the details or his daughter Sandee will respond either way.
Continental Airlines Flight 11 50th anniversary memorial:
Where & When: North-east corner of Unionville Town Square opposite Veterans Memorial in Unionville, Missouri. If you come from Centerville, Iowa, turn left and stop at the only stop light and then proceed 3-4 blocks to the square.
**The service will commence at 10:30am.
You'll see a large church (Methodist) on your left so if you see this you're heading in the right direction.
In case of inclement weather, the program will be held in the Putnam County R-1 Schools Auditorium. To get to this school, take 19th Street south from the Methodist Church, past two stop signs to Garfield Street. Take a right and go one block to 20th street. Turn left into 20th and you'll see the school.
**There will also be a visit to the crash site afterwards (after lunch) with limited transportation available. Please email Mr Crawford if you wish to see the site.
**What to wear: Casual attire and some good shoes for going into a paddock if you wish to visit the actual crash site. If you don't wish to visit the site then just normal smart casual clothing.
Lunch: At the Methodist church right after the memorial service.
Dinner and Theatre: Later in the evening there will be a dinner at the Manhattan Restaurant in Centerville, Iowa. Dinner is $17.50 per person and the theatre is $8.50.
Dinner and theater payments simple to expedite things. During the dinner, we’ll all sit together in one big room and maybe an overflow table or two. Duane will simply pay the cashier for everyone so you can pay him there and he'll go up and sort out the cheque.
**Country Music Show at Rathburn Theatre: As for the theatre, Duane will give those attending a ticket or pass that will read “Flight 11, 5/26/12”. Please let Duane know via his email address (top of the page) ASAP. Duane will have one sheet set of directions to give your driver or co-pilot during dinner.
**To get to the theatre from the Manhattan Restaurant, continue north on Highway 5 from the restaurant, pass the Super 8 and Wal Mart and leave the city limits. It is a 25 minute drive, but watch for deer at night in this rural area. You'll come to a small yellow and blue sign at 6.4 miles from the Manhattan. It's a country road "J29". There is a direction arrow along the road that points towards the direction of theatre. Turn LEFT onto "J29" and cross some railroad tracks after a while. You'll pass through the village of Rathburn shortly thereafter. From there you will come to 4-way stop sign at a 4.4 mile mark from J29. Turn right, cross the Rathburn Dam and continue for about three quarters of a mile. The large metal theatre sits next to the road on the east.
For further contact details please email Mr Crawford ASAP and he will have further contact details for you if you need to phone him etc.
The entrance to the field
An old barn along the way to the crash site
Leading down along the road to the crash site
Leading down along the road to the crash site
The crash site. The small light-green bush right of centre marks the spot where the cockpit of the 707 began and the fuselage stretched back towards us and to the right in the picture.
The crash site. 
Allen family & the man in the middle with light blue jeans on is Ron Cook who was 17 when he and his Father came across the crash site in the early hours of the morning of the 23rd May 1962. Ron remembers it as if it were yesterday. 
Press and families
To the left-hand side of the crash site. The gentleman in the picture is Duane Crawford, local historian. 
The Press
Families at the site. 
The tree-line to the left of the site where many parked their cars in 1962. A road continues past this line to Lake Thunderhead (man-made and not there in 1962). It was this road that reporters, curio-seekers and initial assistance came through)
More of the tree line
Road leading up to the track to the crash site. 
Road leading up to the track to the crash site.
Entrance to crash site track
From Lake Thunderhead looking back up towards the crash site. The site now sits on a sort of peninsula between two fingers of the lake. See crash co-ordinates post and google earth to see what I mean here. 
Treeline of crash site visible to the right of the picture extending back up the hill. 
Treeline of crash site visible to the right of the picture extending back up the hill. 
Just over this brow was the nose of the crashed 707 followed by the rest of the main fuselage minus the tail section which was found in pieces near Cincinnati, Iowa. 
