Saturday, April 6, 2013 11:00 AM

The Lighter Than Air Society commemorates the 80th anniversary of the loss of the USS Akron and the launch of the USS Macon with a
program on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at 11 a.m. at the Akron Summit County Main Library.

Eighty years ago, both of the U.S. Navy’s giant dirigibles built in Akron were in the news. The USS Macon had just been christened in March and began trial flights in April. Early on the morning of April 4, the USS Akron crashed in the Atlantic Ocean during a thunderstorm claiming 73 lives — the worst air disaster to that date.

The Lighter-Than-Air Society is presenting a free program, open to the public, to commemorate these events, on Saturday, April 6, at 11 a.m., in the Auditorium of the Akron-Summit County Main Library, 60 S. High St., Akron, Ohio.

The special presentation will examine the contrast in feelings of joy and exhilaration in christening a new ship with the shock and grief brought by the tragic loss of her sister ship, all within the span of a few weeks in March and April 1933.

Please join us for this informative meeting. The Lighter-Than-Air Society also will have memorabilia relating to the event on display in the library.

Free parking for the event is available in the parking deck north of the library (accessible from S. High Street, just South of E. Market Street).