Wright fundraiser draws a crowd
Event meant to boost funds for Wright Brothers monument.
zoe dell nutter marks her 100th birthday with an event to raise funds for a monument to the wright brothers,
— Zoe Dell Nutter’s MIAMI TWP. aviation-related work spans more than 70 years. Saturday night hundreds gathered to mark her 100th birthday, a celebration aimed at boosting funds for a towering monument to the Wright brothers.
The first woman president of the National Aviation Hall of Fame sat greeting guests for nearly an hour at the event geared to lift efforts to further cement Dayton’s aviation heritage with a 270-foot monument planned at the crossroads of interstates 75 and 70.
Reflecting on a career that included mixing with the likes of aviation heavyweights William T. Piper and Juan Trippe, as well as aviator President George W. Bush, the widow of Ervin J. Nutter recounted her effort to obtain her pilot’s license.
“I had my instrument rating, commercial, multi-engine instrument,” she said in a prerecorded video. “And I got my
instrument rating in Chicago, and I figured if you could get your instrument rating in Chicago with the weather they have, you could fly anywhere.”
Mrs. Nutter, whose birthday was June 14, also recalled memories of business tycoon and aviator Howard Hughes.
“I learned to fly at the Las Vegas airport, and he had a huge airplane,” she said in the video. “I used to go up inside it and watch him work on it. He was very polite and would talk about aviation.”
More than 400 gathered at the Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport, where Vectren Dayton Air Show announcer Rob Reider served as master of ceremonies. The party in Mrs. Nutter’s honor was aimed at aiding the Wright Image Group, the organization working to build support for the monument.
The guest list ranged from former Ohio Gov. George Voinovich and Ohio Aerospace Institute President Michael Heil to GE Aviation Systems President Vic Bonneau and an array of Dayton area business leaders.
Mrs. Nutter “looks at (the event) as an opportunity for one more achievement,” said Curt Nelson, a spokesman for the Wright Image Group. “And that’s what she’s doing with this birthday party — she’s trying to give us the opportunity to get some traction with this project, get the publicity, get a serious chunk of funding to roll forward with and we just hope becomes a snowball that keeps rolling downhill.”
The night is expected to raise about $100,000 toward the plan for the monument, The Triumph of Flight, said Nelson, who had earlier reported that about $1.5 million had been raised for the project.
The plan calls for the monument — which is expected to cost up to $15 million — to occupy about 3 acres and tower about 270 feet. It would be topped with a model of the Wrights’ 1905 Flyer — widely seen as the world’s first practical airplane — anchored to the ground by cables near the interstate’s interchange, officials have said.
The monument would be meant to be seen from three miles in all directions. The group also wants to leave a “perpetual care” endowment of another $3 million.
Also envisioned is a park at the base of the monument, Nelson said. The monument would be on the southwest quadrant of the interchange, approachable off Miller Lane, he said.
The fundraising goal is to find a “keystone donor” somewhere, either a private source or a government source, Nelson said. A single million-dollar donation could snowball into something bigger, he said.
With the recent publishing of David McCullough’s book, “The Wright Brothers,” — which is topping The New York Times’ most recent best sellers hardcover nonfiction list — and Tom Hanks obtaining the book’s film rights, awareness of the Wrights’ accomplishments is extremely high, Nelson said.
“This is the ideal opportunity,” he said. “Serendipity is the word that comes to mind about finding the visibility that will let you get some momentum going. And that’s what we’re looking for.”