On Saturday, January 12th, a pretty historic event happened here at the South Pole. We all participated in dedicating the brand new elevated station. For us residents, this meant our workday was a little different than normal and it thankfully ended up being cut a little short.
The day started with the whole station going out in front of the old dome for a final group shot with the dome. After the picture taking, the flag was lowered on the dome and we all formed a chain to pass the flag up to the geographic south pole marker where it was folded properly. Then, the flags of the original 12 nations of the Antarctic treaty and the ceremonial pole were moved to their new resting place directly in front of the middle of the elevated station and we took another group photo. At this point, I was getting pretty cold from being outside for a long period of time and couldn’t wait to join everyone else in the galley for coffee.
Later that day, the distinguished visitors flew in for a few hours and gave some speeches. We then raised the flag from the dome over the new station for the first time and cut a ribbon. There was some concern that the dv’s weren’t going to be able to make it in since there had been bad weather in McMurdo and no flights for a few days. However, everything worked out and the dedication happened as planned.
As far as dv’s go, I didn’t recognize anyone and actually kind of feel sorry for New Jersey residents as their congressman gave a speech in which he referenced polar bears in Antarctica and called McMurdo, McCurdo, even though he had just spend some time there.
After all the ceremony, we had an awesome dinner of filet mignon and lobster, and then, once the dv’s left, we had our own party with some South Pole bands and some good dj’ing.
I would have to say overall it was a great day, and I’m happy that I got a chance to be part of Antarctic history.
Click here for some photos
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