Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/63916
CENTURY 21 EXPO 50TH ANNIVERSARY HE HELPED BUILD IT, THEN CAUGHT UP ON SLEEP I REMEMBER THE opening day of the World's Fair very well. I was 22 years old and working for my dad at A. Buono Construction & Cabinet Shop. We had the contract to make and install many of the fixtures and display cases for the newly formed European Economic Community's exhibit. The exhibit building still exists on the front side of Key Arena. We were given the contract to do the work about a year ahead of the fair. Even though the work was detailed, it seemed like plenty of time. As it turned out, plan changes sent from Brussels became commonplace. Often, information was sent in German, French and Italian. Delays slowed our progress significantly. As the opening day of the Fair grew close, we were behind schedule. We started working with more craftsmen and longer hours. By the time we were to install everything, we were working around the clock. I remember so well making the final installation and completing the job—including a final sweep- up—an hour and a half before the fair opened. Rather than watch the opening ceremonies, I headed home to sleep. Our final week of work was truly exhausting. —Frank Buono, WAC member since 1966 WHEELS IN THE SKY: WHEN SPACE Needle builders needed to perfect their welds nearly 600 feet above the ground, they turned to grinding disks sold by Jack R. Anderson. The former WAC member and Bay State Abrasives specialist supplied workers—in the air and on the ground—with the grinding wheels needed to complete the landmark project of the 1962 World's Fair. Jack died in March 2011. The result of the tools he sold, however, continues to define the Seattle skyline. —Darrick Meneken FROM NEBRASKA BOY TO SEATTLE BOOSTER WAC board member John Buller was just 12 years old when he first laid eyes on Seattle and its glorious World's Fair. "My family drove across the country to attend," says John, who hailed from Nebraska at the time. "It was our first two-week vacation, and we decided to go to the World's Fair and see the future." That trip to the future—which took four days by car—was unforgettable to the 12-year-old, who encountered such wonders as the Space Needle, the Bubbleator, the Skyride gondolas, the Monorail and a water- skiing moat within Memorial Stadium. "It was mind-boggling," John says of the trip now. "We'd only gone to county fairs before, so the whole thing—the Space Needle, the [U.S. Science Pavilion] arches, the whole environment—was different from anything I'd ever seen. It's a spectacular memory." These days, John is one of the Next Fifty Ambassadors, a group of civic leaders helping produce and promote a six-month program of events celebrating the fair's 50th anniversary. Many events will run from April 21–October 21, just like the original World's Fair. On the docket: a Seattle World's Fair exhibit at the Museum of History and Industry (April 21–October 21), a Seattle Science Festival (slated for June), the King Tut exhibit (May 24, 2012–Jan 6, 2013), a collection of Century 21 oral histories (ongoing), historic Seattle Center walking tours (April–October), and a Seattle Marathon 10-kilometer run (scheduled for August). For more details, go to thenextfifty.org. —Diane Mapes MAY / JUNE 2012 | Washington Athletic Club Magazine | 37 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: MUSEUM OF HISTORY & INDUSTRY (2), COURTESY JON ANDERSON