Five Million Dollars Down, Three Million Dollars to Go! — By the time you read this, the Save the Bomber Plant Campaign will have mobilized a little more than $5 million, leaving less than $3 million more still to be raised in order to reach the $8 million needed to preserve a portion of the Bomber Plant.

Deadline Extended — Because of  the continued fundraising progress, the current owner of the Bomber Plant has given the museum more time in which to raise the funds needed to turn our piece of the plant into a fully-independent, fully-functional building that can become the Museum’s new home.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

While the museum now has more time (until at least November 1), they do not have limitless time in which to preserve this important part of our history. So, if you have not already done so, please go to www.savethebomberplant.org and make your gift. If you have already made your own commitment, “talk up” this effort to your family, friends and co-workers, urging them to also give.

EVENTS:

Willow Run Bomber Plant Conference at Yankee Air Museum on Saturday, October 26 – On October 29, 1940, Bill Knudsen (previously a GM executive) acting on behalf of the US Government convened a meeting in midtown Detroit at which the American auto industry began organizing for warplane production. One result of that meeting was the Willow Run Bomber Plant which became a critically important part of the Arsenal of Democracy.

On Saturday October 26, 2013, the Yankee Air Museum will host a conference to commemorate that 1940 meeting and help put the Willow Run Bomber Plant into its larger historical context. Speakers will include Prof. Charles Hyde of Wayne State University, author of The American Automobile Industry in World War II (WSU Press 2013); Michael Davis, author of Detroit’s Wartime Industry: Arsenal of Democracy (Arcadia Press, 2007) and Yankee’s own Randy Hotton, one of the authors of “Willow Run: Birthplace of Rosie the Riveter” (IMPO News 2013). The conference will conclude with a brief presentation on the future of the Bomber Plant site.

The program begins with a light lunch at 11:45 am and will conclude by 2:45 pm so that attendees can go to a possible farewell event for the Bomber Plant.

The conference is free but pre-registration is required by email to mike@michiganaerospace.org or by telephone to the Museum’s Front Desk (734) 483-4030. The Yankee Air Museum is located at 47884 D Street, Belleville, Michigan, which is just off Beck Road between Ecorse and Tyler Roads on the east side of Willow Run Airport.

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