Guest Rick Collin, Feb. 16, 2026 (#232)

Although Rick Collin, Bismarck, ND, is a relatively young Baby Boomer, he does remember the 1950s' era of personalized lawn care with the push reel lawn mower.

Better yet, Rick sat on his dad's lap as they watched episodes of that television phenomenon, "Gunsmoke." After all, weren't Marshall Dillon and Chester our heroes?

The summer of 1960 began a pivotal time in Rick's life...and that is where the focus of this FUN CHAT lies. When his family loaded up the 1957 Plymouth station wagon and left Minnesota, his Dad had been working for the Civil Air Patrol. But President Kennedy's developing space program changed Rick's family's trajectory. You'll learn his family's story with NASA and the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions.

Who can forget the memorable date of Nov. 22, 1963? Rick includes his emotions of that date along with his personal memory of Mrs. Kennedy's kindness to his little-boy heart.

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