From: Plimley, Kamelyta
Sent: Monday, April 19, 2004 12:24 p.m.
To: Website Email
Subject: Press Release: Stitching NASA Patches

Release date: IMMEDIATELY
Date: April 19, 2004
Contact: Jennifer Reynolds, Media Specialist ~ (909) 798-5048 ~ jreynolds@sbcm.sbcounty.gov
Ann Deegan, Curator of History ~ (909) 307-2669 ext. 236 / TDD/TTY: (909) 792-1462.

Event date: Saturday April 24, 2004
Event place: San Bernardino County Museum, Redlands.

Stitching NASA Patches

Space suits worn by NASA astronauts sport a patch designed specifically for each mission. These patches have been recreated in embroidery by members of the American Needlepoint Guild. Among the artists is Pat Correz, who embroidered the patch for the Apollo/Soyuz mission. She will discuss this process during a slide presentation at the San Bernardino County Museum on Saturday, April 24, at 1:30 p.m. The presentation is free with general admission.

The initial set of official patches encompasses designs for 133 manned space missions. These embroidered patches now hang at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi to commemorate NASA's human space flight missions. Guild members devoted in excess of 4,000 combined hours in stitching these space mission patches. The guild is a non-profit organization comprised of 9,000 members in the United States and an additional 1,000 in countries such as England, Canada and Italy. This is an on-going project - as NASA continues human space flight missions, guild members will stitch the corresponding mission patches.

Correz is the vice-president of chapters and areas of the American Needlepoint Guild and the vice-president for programs and workshops of the guild's San Bernardino chapter. From 1959 through 1961 she was the Administrative Officer for the United States Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base .

The San Bernardino County Museum is at the California Street exit from Interstate 10 in Redlands. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $6 (adult), $5 (senior or student) and $4 (child aged 5-12). Children under 5 and members of the Museum Association are admitted free. Parking is free, and the facility is handicapped-accessible. The museum's Garden Café will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch, snacks, and beverages. For more information, visit www.sbcountymuseum.org or call (909) 307-2669 / TDD/TTY: (909) 792-1462.

Kamelyta Plimley, Marketing Assistant
San Bernardino County Museum
2024 Orange Tree Lane, Redlands, CA 92374
Tel (909) 798-9829 Fax (909) 748-7763
www.sbcountymuseum.org

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