MEDIA VISITS, PARADE AND ROCKETS! 16 September 2012 XXXV Khamsin Molossia News Léo The weekend of 14 - 16 September 2012 XXXV was a busy one for the Republic of Molossia. It began on Friday, the 14th, with the arrival of Léo Delafontaine, a photojournalist from Paris, France. Léo works for the French newspaper Libération, and is compiling photographs of micronations for a story in that paper, as well as its accompanying magazine. He is also hoping to turn his collection of micronational photos into a book. Among the micronations that Léo has visited thus far are Sealand, Saugeais, Christiania, Boirie, Seborga and Elleore. Future visits include Calsahara, the Conch Republic, Hutt River and Atlantium. Léo also took outstanding photos at the PoliNation 2012 micronational conference, in London in July, where The President and First Lady originally met him. Léo arrived in Molossia at about 12:30 PM MST and spent the day touring our nation and taking dozens of photos. After several hours, and with the light waning, Léo wrapped up his project and departed Molossia, his next stop being the Kingdom of Calsahara. We wish him well and look forward to seeing photos of our nation not only on Léo's website but also in the newspaper, and hopefully a magazine and book. See Léo's micronation photos here!

Tom and Harriet The second event of the weekend of 14 - 16 September 2012 XXXV was the arrival of Tom Barbor-Might and Harriet Grecian of Red Arrow Entertainment. Tom and Harriet traveled from Britain to scout Molossia as a possible subject of a reality show. The show would focus on the activities in the Republic of Molossia and the lives of its citizens. For two days, Tom and Harriet toured our nation, interviewed The President, First Lady and First Family and participated in the various activities that took place over the weekend. Having taken hours of film and seen nearly every corner of our nation, the redoubtable duo will compile the footage into a short film. This will then be presented to various networks to see who might be interested. Hopefully the story of our little nation will be intriguing enough to be picked up and then someday Molossia will be on network television. After a busy weekend with us, Tom and Harriet departed Molossia on Sunday afternoon, on to other stories. We expect the short film will be complete in a few weeks ready for presentation - and also for showing via Molossia's YouTube. Whether or not Molossians become television stars, this weekend of filming was a great experience and we wish Harriet and Tom well on all their projects.

Harriet and Tom

2012 Dayton Valley Days Parade On 15 September 2012 XXXV, His Excellency, The President and First Lady of Molossia appeared in the Dayton Valley Days Parade, which is located in the town of Dayton, about 10 Imperial Nortons from Molossia. The parade is part of the annual Dayton Valley Days celebration, held each year in that town. His Excellency and The First Lady were accompanied by Sam McCord, driving her pickup truck. This is the third time Molossia has been represented in this parade. The parade was chosen as an event because Molossia was featured in the Dayton newspaper a few years ago, and it was believed that the crowd would thus be familiar with our nation. This proved to be quite correct. The parade began at 10:39 AM MST, near the courthouse in Dayton, and followed Pike Street and then Main Street in that town. All along Main Street were vendor booths, set up for the celebration. In addition, there was a decent crowd of spectators, there to enjoy the parade. The crowd was very pleasant and friendly, smiling and waving to The President and First Lady. It was an amazing, enjoyable experience. Shortly after the vendor booths ended along the route, so did the crowd, and shortly after that, so did the parade. By 11:10 AM MST, the event was over, a very short but pleasant parade. Nevertheless, the informality and brevity were a welcome change from the much more formal and grandiose Nevada Day Parade, and the Molossian contingent was quite pleased. A fine time was had by all, and there are plans in the works to repeat this entertaining event every year.

Parade Ready! Waving To The Crowd. Seeing And Being Seen!

Patriotic Rocket Launch On 16 September 2012 XXXV the Molossian Ministry for Air and Space Exploration launched its latest project, unofficially called the Patriotic Rocket Launch. The idea behind this project was to send aloft three small rockets simultaneously, each loaded with either blue, white (actually silver) or green glitter. At the apex of each launch, when the rocket nose cones separate from the rocket body, the glitter would be released, creating a sort of homemade firework in the Molossian national colors. The rockets would be launched as a belated celebration of Molossia's Flag Day, which occurs on 9 September each year. Thus, on a sunny September morning, His Excellency, The President, First Lady and First Family set out for Misfits Flats, our usual rocket launching area, located about 16 Imperial Nortons (10 mi / 16 km) east of Molossia. There they set up the three rockets and shortly sent them aloft. The first launch was rather low, and the rockets performed admirably. However, the glitter proved to be to fine and difficult to see. Just a faint cloud sparkled in the clear sky as the rockets descended. The second launch also went without a flaw, and a larger amount of glitter was used, but to no avail. Again it was very hard to see. The third launch was aborted due to incorrect engine size and the mission was ended, a technical success in spite of the aesthetic flaws. The problem of the faint glitter will be addressed in a future mission; there are already plans to remedy the situation. Thus, the three rockets will fly again in the future, and carry the Molossian colors aloft in another great chapter of the Molossian space program! Where They Go? Brave Rocketeers!

Setting Up. Rockets Lined Up. Ready To Launch.

Return to the Republic of Molossia Main Page.