Photos, poems and community memory keep the Free Life story alive

Barry, an attendee who took Polaroids at the launch, said he climbed a cherry picker and “was able to take pictures right into the, gondola,” and that search-and-rescue agencies later took those images for use on aircraft. He told the meeting he has yet to have those photos returned. Hillary Osborne said she later sought a photograph of the gondola that she remembers seeing in the Smithsonian and found the piece had been removed years later, illustrating how artifacts from the launch circulated beyond the community.

Poet Rosita Benson read lines she later wrote about the event and described the emotional meaning it has had for decades: “The free life swayed insistently time.” Organizers and attendees encouraged anyone with photographs, memorabilia or memories to work with the Springs Historical Society and LTV to preserve them for future researchers and residents.