20 Years Ago: August 1, 1992 in Dan’s Papers
Winner of Glider Contest at the Montauk Lighthouse Will Win a Free Vacation for Two for a Week in Portugal.
When you stand under the shadow of the Montauk Lighthouse and look out to sea, the land way off there, over the horizon, is Portugal.
“Next stop, Portugal,” you might say. And you will not have been the first.
To commemorate this relationship, Dan’s Papers in conjunction with the Montauk Historical Society will hold its Second Annual Flight to Portugal on Saturday, August 8. The winner of the contest receives a terrific prize, a one-week free vacation in Portugal for two, including airfare, hotel and breakfast, courtesy of the Portuguese National Tourist Office on Fifth Avenue and TAP, the National Airlines of Portugal.
There will be four other prizes in the event, for second, and third and for the most interesting entry in the view of the judges. There will also be a band, a barbecue and a good time to be had by all.
To win this extraordinary prize, entrants send a ten-dollar fee and a form to be filled in to Dan’s Papers in Bridgehampton. Once registered, entrants build a glider that conforms to the specifications printed in the entry blank.
Launches will proceed beginning at 11 in the morning of Saturday, August 8 and will continue on at five-minute intervals into the afternoon. There will be a clean-up crew at the base of the cliff, provided by the Eastern Long Island Surfing Association for those entries that don’t make it out to sea. We have received approval from the United States Coast Guard to be offshore in ships retrieving the longer entries and radioing back the distances gone.
Grumman Aerospace will provide the technical support to determine the longest flight.
Last year’s Dan’s Papers Flight to Portugal was held on Saturday, August 10, 1991 and was an incredible success. There was food and drink for sale, a band, coverage from ABC Channel 7, WINS, Channel 12 and 27, numerous newspapers and magazines and local radio stations. Entries ranged from rubber band gliders to frisbees to bolos. One was thrown by TV personality Dick Cavett. The eventual winner—there were 52 entries in all—was that of Steve Wolff of Port Jefferson Station, who thoroughly enjoyed the weeklong vacation he took in Portugal with his wife several months later.
Other prizes in the Flight to Portugal contest are provided by Alize the Cognac and passion fruit drink, Orangina and SolBar PF the PABA Free Sunscreen.