The commander of the Space station called in to congratulate them.

John Glenn and Scott Carpenter were honored.

The theme for this year’s annual dinner was
Sacred Places.

What an amazing weekend.  Invited to participate in the 108^th Explorers Club Annual Dinner (ECAD) and Celebrations my business partner, Lynn Gibson, and I arrived  at the Waldorf Astoria in black tie and ceremonial dress with a thousand people from around the world on Saturday night.  Both the cocktail hour and post dessert receptions featured exotic menu items ranging from beaver, muskrat, camel,  scorpions, earthworms, and more.  The silent auction offered incredible adventure trips, a ride in zero gravity and a donation of a communicator and phaser donated by Star Trek’s Gene Roddenberry.

During the night many awards were given to amazing adventurers who reflected deeply on the theme of the night, “Sacred Spaces.”  President Alan Nichols proudly announced that this was the very first ECAD to be live streamed as a special call came in from the International Space Station Commander, to congratulate astronauts John Glenn and Chris Carpenter for their President’s Legends Medals.  Next up,  Erden Eruc   received a Citation of Merit for spending 5 years and eleven days circumnavigating the globe in a row boat.  The night closed with James Cameron describing ECAD as the Academy Awards for explorers, sharing his passion about carrying the Explorers Club flag to the deepest depths of our planet’s oceans.  Throughout  the night a kaleidoscope of images was projected onto the grand room’s walls and ceiling showing far away galaxies and disappearing glacial sanctuaries.