This year is the 50th anniversary of the Worlds Fair of 1964/65 in Corona, Queens.
I myself remember attending the fair with my good friend Harry Wymer, in the summer of ‘64. We were 13 and 14 years of age at the time.
My friends father drove us there and told us to be careful and to have a good time and we did. There were crowds there that we never saw anywhere else. We stood on long lines like the Ma Bell exhibit which showed the future where you could talk to someone and see their image on the other end.
There were many others exhibits that showed space, culture and technological advancements of the future. Some of these advancement have come about and others have not occurred yet.
It has been said that today’s science fiction is tomorrows reality, well it was true than is so true today.
Anyway Harry and I walked all day long that day to see and experience all that was there. Much was to be seen and to remember.
Harry and I lost contact in the ‘70s but the other day after about 45 years, Harry found me.
Harry is a retired school teacher in Upstate New York and is helping establish a class reunion of our eighth grade class at Grace Lutheran Day School in Queens Village.
We had a long conversation about that day at the Worlds Fair. We talk about how our minds were open to the possibilities of a better world.
Much has changed and much more needs to be done to better our world to help the many.
The World’s Fair of ‘64 was one to be remembered and not to be forgotten.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.
Glen Oaks Village
