Hello everyone,
I finally have some great updates to share! Last night I had a WhatsApp conversation with our South Pacific WW2 Museum friend, Jimmy Carter. I love that app. Jimmy lives in Brisbane, Australia and I can video chat with him from Kentucky like he was next door for free. So, anyway here’s some of the stuff we discussed about the upcoming visit to Vanuatu.
We discussed the plans for the display that will be the new home for the plaque. The plan all along had been to use part of a salvaged ship for building the stand to hold the plaque. There is a small merchant ship that is coming in to port soon to be scrapped, and the museum director Bradley Wood is going to obtain a portion of this vessel to use. I asked Jimmy about the age of this ship and it appears it could be a WW2 era vessel, so appropriate for the stand. The chosen piece will be stripped and aged to appear vintage, and the plaque will be secured safely within it. He will share design plans with me soon. Also, they will somehow attach a monitor to the stand that will run the films of the wreck site along side the plaque. Jimmy is in the process of editing these films right now, thanks to Lone Wolf Media releasing the rights. Thank you Tracy and Adam Costa!
I asked him if we could either film or live broadcast the installation ceremony so family and friends could either watch live or view later on Facebook or YouTube. Yes! This can be done, so everyone will have access. I have no idea right now what will be planned, but am looking forward to it. Jimmy said we can invite the Lord Mayor of Luganville to be present at the ceremony. It will be nice to have an official from the town there.
One little recent hitch in the giddy-up – the airline I will be taking from Port Vila, Vanuatu to Luganville on Espiritu Santo, Air Vanuatu, has gone financially “belly up” as of last Friday. So while that is initially alarming, Jimmy says it won’t last long. Administrators are gathering and people stepping up to get it back and working. This is the only domestic airline that services Vanuatu. They rely on it for supplies like food, medicine, and transportation between islands for business and doctor visits from island to island. It’s too important to not be up and flying, so by the time I am due to make my trip all should be well.
Jimmy plans to arrive about a week before I do in order to see that all the arrangements with the display of the plaque are up to date and on schedule. I arrive on July 3rd and will get the plaque to them ASAP. On the 4th we will probably do the planning for the ceremony, and on the 5th, the 81st anniversary of the sinking we will settle the plaque into its new home. The rest of my days there will be used to do a bit of research and I hope a tour of some of the places Billy and the other men spent time. I plan on taking lots of pictures. When I get home I will save them all on Google Drive and share links with anyone who wants to see them.
I have a couple of local podcast interviews about all this coming up. When they are due to broadcast I will post up links on the website and in emails. As of today I have 47 days until my trip. Little by little it’s all coming together. Still a bit overwhelming, but in a good way.
Thanks again to everyone who has been so supportive in so many ways over the past 26 years of building to this point. I could NOT have done it without you all!
-Tammi
I finally have some great updates to share! Last night I had a WhatsApp conversation with our South Pacific WW2 Museum friend, Jimmy Carter. I love that app. Jimmy lives in Brisbane, Australia and I can video chat with him from Kentucky like he was next door for free. So, anyway here’s some of the stuff we discussed about the upcoming visit to Vanuatu.
We discussed the plans for the display that will be the new home for the plaque. The plan all along had been to use part of a salvaged ship for building the stand to hold the plaque. There is a small merchant ship that is coming in to port soon to be scrapped, and the museum director Bradley Wood is going to obtain a portion of this vessel to use. I asked Jimmy about the age of this ship and it appears it could be a WW2 era vessel, so appropriate for the stand. The chosen piece will be stripped and aged to appear vintage, and the plaque will be secured safely within it. He will share design plans with me soon. Also, they will somehow attach a monitor to the stand that will run the films of the wreck site along side the plaque. Jimmy is in the process of editing these films right now, thanks to Lone Wolf Media releasing the rights. Thank you Tracy and Adam Costa!
I asked him if we could either film or live broadcast the installation ceremony so family and friends could either watch live or view later on Facebook or YouTube. Yes! This can be done, so everyone will have access. I have no idea right now what will be planned, but am looking forward to it. Jimmy said we can invite the Lord Mayor of Luganville to be present at the ceremony. It will be nice to have an official from the town there.
One little recent hitch in the giddy-up – the airline I will be taking from Port Vila, Vanuatu to Luganville on Espiritu Santo, Air Vanuatu, has gone financially “belly up” as of last Friday. So while that is initially alarming, Jimmy says it won’t last long. Administrators are gathering and people stepping up to get it back and working. This is the only domestic airline that services Vanuatu. They rely on it for supplies like food, medicine, and transportation between islands for business and doctor visits from island to island. It’s too important to not be up and flying, so by the time I am due to make my trip all should be well.
Jimmy plans to arrive about a week before I do in order to see that all the arrangements with the display of the plaque are up to date and on schedule. I arrive on July 3rd and will get the plaque to them ASAP. On the 4th we will probably do the planning for the ceremony, and on the 5th, the 81st anniversary of the sinking we will settle the plaque into its new home. The rest of my days there will be used to do a bit of research and I hope a tour of some of the places Billy and the other men spent time. I plan on taking lots of pictures. When I get home I will save them all on Google Drive and share links with anyone who wants to see them.
I have a couple of local podcast interviews about all this coming up. When they are due to broadcast I will post up links on the website and in emails. As of today I have 47 days until my trip. Little by little it’s all coming together. Still a bit overwhelming, but in a good way.
Thanks again to everyone who has been so supportive in so many ways over the past 26 years of building to this point. I could NOT have done it without you all!
-Tammi
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