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HAMMs Hangar Dance

August 26th, 2010

​The very first article I wrote for Tyler TX Directory was a piece entitled World History is Down the Street, and It featured Tyler’s Historical Aviation Memorial Museum (HAMM).

In the past year and a half or so that I’ve been writing for the Directory I’ve referenced the museum a couple of times, including this past July when I covered a visit my son and I made to the museum’s annual static air show.

Well without meaning to write ad- nauseam on a particular topic I thought I would offer a little more free publicity to one of the HAMM’s upcoming fund raising events.

​Obviously, the Aviation Museum is a favorite in my house. We usually visit every couple of months or so, and that’s not counting the evenings we’ve spent sitting on the car while parked in the parking lot watching the planes take off and land.

Well it seems this September the museum is holding another event to help raise money for museum improvements and expenses. It’s called a Hanger Dance and features big band swing jazz of the 1940s courtesy of The Tyler Big Band, as well as period aircraft and other vehicles as a backdrop to the evening.

Guests are encouraged to dress in theme although it’s certainly not required. In the interest of full disclosure, I do like jazz, history, and airplanes but dancing is just not something I tend to enjoy.

In fact I reserve the activity fairly exclusively for weddings. But for those who do enjoy the activity, I can only imagine that this would be a really great event! Combine terrific music with the romance of the 1940s and the Second World War and you’ve got a really neat event.

​The Dance will be held on Saturday, September twenty fifth, at Tyler Jet Center, right next to the Museum, and will be catered by the Skyline Café, which is also housed in the Museum building.

The evening begins at six pm and runs until about ten. Admission is not particularly cheap at forty dollars per person, but proceeds go to a good cause. This is not the first such dance the HAMM has held by the way. In the past events like this one have helped to raise much- needed funds for museum improvements.

​For more information, on either the Museum or the Hanger Dance, visit their web page at http://www.tylerhamm.org/. To read my other articles on the Aviation Museum and its events simply click on the following links: http://www.tylertxdirectory.com/1236/world-history-is-down-the-street/, or http://www.tylertxdirectory.com/3027/celebrating-the-4th-in-tyler-tx/.

Cultural Institutions and Events in Tyler Texas

May 19th, 2010

The Tyler and East Texas area are often criticized for a perceived lack of culture or cultural events. This point of criticism is only partially true. With the city growing more and more all the time, new events and institutions geared to changing this perception are opening every day. For those interested in expanding our area’s horizons, here are a couple of opportunities to aid to our local cultural awareness.

The American Freedom Museum at the Brook Hill School

The Brook Hill School has been open for nearly fourteen years now. In that time the school has worked to build a reputation as a premier preparatory academy that not only offers its students an excellent education, but contributes to the betterment to the overall East Texas community. One such example is The American Freedom Museum, located on their campus in Bullard. The museum opened to the public earlier this month and is so much more than just an amateur collection of charts and artifacts! It is an actual historical museum with exhibits that would make any university proud. The Hall of Presidents, features documents signed by each of our nation’s Presidents. The Hall of Freedom contains historical artifacts from all of our nation’s wars and conflicts, including period uniforms, flags and weapons. There are even aircraft and other vehicles from both the Second World War and the Vietnam War, on display. The purpose of the institution is to inspire both students and the public at large, as well as to honor Americans veterans from all our wars. A visit here would provide a wonderful learning opportunity for East Texans this summer. For more information on either the school or the museum contact their office at (903)894-5000. Also look for the article entitled Classical Education and Christian Character located elsewhere on this site.

As a side note the school will be running its summer athletic camps from the end of June through July. The camps cover most area sports including Basketball, Baseball, Football, Soccer, Dance and Drill, general conditioning and a number of others. See their website for times and options. www.brookhill.org/summercamps.html.

The Historical Aviation Memorial Museum

Another opportunity for summer learning is the Historical Aviation Memorial Museum, located in the old Tyler Pounds Field Terminal in Tyler. The Aviation Museum is a great local institution that will fascinate kids and adults alike. It covers the history of aviation and even space travel, from all periods of history. In doors are models, maps and uniforms from air forces and air transportation the world over. Out doors are restored military aircraft from several historical periods. The museum also owns three additional airplanes which are currently not on general display and is in the process of restoring a couple others. The museum is scheduled to hold an Aviation Camp from June ninth through the twelfth, from ten am to three pm, and a static air show display on July third from ten am to five pm. For more information on the museum and other upcoming events visit their website at www.tylerhamm.org, or look for the article entitled World history is down the street, located elsewhere on this site.

The Tyler Oil Palace

While I admit the venue is not great, the Tyler Oil Palace has maintained an interesting slate of events lately. This summer the agenda continues to move forward with an appearance by legendary country western artist George Jones on June nineteenth, followed by political rock star Sara Palin on June twenty sixth, and a visit from the Shrine Circus on September fourth, fifth, and sixth. While I concede that not all of these necessarily constitute culturally enriching events, visits from national figures like Palin, (and Glen Beck who visited last month), definitely help to put our fair city on the map. For more info on the Oil Palace or on upcoming events go to the website at www.oilpalace.com, or see my recent article entitled Glenn Beck comes to Tyler, also located on this site.