Museum connects to moon

Balls Shepard hit on lunar surface were Daisys from Rogers

ROGERS -- Alan Shepard's golf swing on the moon is an iconic moment in the 1971 Apollo 14 mission, and as it turns out, that moment has a Rogers connection.

Daisy Outdoor Products leaders learned that the company had a connection with the Apollo moment when they received a call over the summer from a company preparing an estate sale.

Books, guns and a lot of Apollo photographs owned by a former Daisy executive were found in a Fort Smith attic, said Joe Murfin, chairman of the board of directors of the Daisy Airgun Museum in Rogers. Jack Powers had started working at Daisy in 1960 and was a senior public relations executive for the firm for more than 20 years.

Autographed photos of the crews of Apollo 12, 14, 16 and 17 are among the items now on permanent display at Daisy's museum in downtown Rogers. Also included is a handwritten note on the Apollo 14 crew photo that states: "To Jack Powers ... Our most sincere thanks for the Daisy golf balls by Victor ..... They are out of this world!"

Shepard took two golf balls, both with the Daisy logo, on his moonwalk, and he hit them both.

The two balls were not retrieved after Shepard hit them, but the museum's display features a Victor Daisy golf ball from around 1971 and a video showing Shepard's famous six-iron shot.

Daisy, known for its BB guns for more than 125 years, featured golf balls in its catalog when it was owned by Victor Comptometer Corp. Daisy moved from Plymouth, Mich., to Rogers in 1958.

The balls made it to the moon because of Powers' friendship with Al Chop, who worked in public relations for NASA at the time. Powers suggested sending the golf balls along on a mission.

The story of the golf balls went untold for so many years because NASA would not allow a company to use items sent to space to make money or for commercial promotion, said Bobby Livingston, spokesman of RR Auction in Boston. RR Auction specializes in rare documents, manuscripts, autographs and historic artifacts. Livingston said NASA memorabilia is the company's fastest-growing section, accounting for nearly $6 million in sales.

Livingston said a watch that was worn by Apollo 15 astronaut Dave Scott is being auctioned Oct. 22. It is the only watch worn on the moon that is not owned by the government. Scott took it along because he was worried that his original watch would break while he was on the moon's surface, meaning he could lose track of time and die, he said.

"His watch did break, and he wore his backup," Livingston said. "But he brought it back and didn't leave it on the moon."

The watch has a minimum opening bid of $50,000. He said if there was a way to get the golf balls back from the moon, they would be worth a lot of money.

Rogers Mayor Greg Hines said it's amazing that the golf ball story went untold for so many years.

"This is a display I would expect to go and see at the Smithsonian," he said.

Michael Neufeld, senior curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, said Apollo missions have been some of the most popular topics on-site and online for many years.

A replica of the golf club that Shepard used to hit the moon golf balls is on display. Shepard donated the original club to the U.S. Golf Association Museum in New Jersey in 1974.

"He took the golf swings at the end of a long scientific experiment," Neufeld said of Shepard.

J.R. Shaw, executive director of Visit Rogers, said interest in space and in sports will help draw visitors to the Daisy museum.

"People are looking for something new and unique," he said. "It is also something residents can find that's in their own backyard."

Metro on 10/08/2015

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