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A shuttle reminder to carry every day
By MICHAEL SANDLER, Times Staff Writer
Florida's commemorative quarter, designed by a Pasco County artist, will feature the space shuttle and a Spanish galleon with the slogan "Gateway to Discovery." The design finished first among five finalists through a vote on the Internet. Some 1,500 designs originally were submitted. Ralph Butler hoped to evoke Florida's rich history when he drew the design months before Columbia broke apart during re-entry as it was returning home to Cape Canaveral last month. Gov. Jeb Bush, who had been excited and lighthearted about the contest, turned serious Thursday as he introduced the winning design during a news conference at Union Bank, the state's oldest surviving bank building. "Everybody knows that the space shuttle Columbia left our shores 49 days ago and never returned to us," said Bush, who was joined by former astronauts Norm Thagard and Winston Scott. "I think this quarter design is a fitting tribute to those seven brave explorers and their commitment to discovery." Butler, 59, was surprised he won and slightly uneasy that his design might serve as a tribute to the seven lost astronauts. "I'm not comfortable that something I designed could be tied with a disaster," said Butler, who won a contest in 1972 to design Florida's bicentennial coin. "It's not something I thought deeply about. Any kind of tribute should be direct. The shuttle I portrayed stands for all of the space exploration at the cape. I suppose it would be left to anyone who looked at it. . . . If it ends up being that, I would be honored." Butler was unable to attend the news conference because of his father's recent death. A magazine and book jacket illustrator who lives in Bayonet Point, Butler entered the quarter contest after his mother read a newspaper article about the governor seeking entries. He intended to portray the hope of exploration, symbolized by Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon's historic journey to Florida and the monumental achievement of a space shuttle blasting off. The quarter will be released by the U.S. Mint in spring 2004 as part of the State Quarters Program. It becomes the 27th of the 50 new state quarters. Voting on the Florida design began Feb. 12, nearly two weeks after the Columbia disaster. Though the official tally was not complete until Wednesday, Bush evoked Butler's theme during his State of the State speech Tuesday. "America is a nation of pioneers and adventurers," Bush said Tuesday. "Our own state history begins with intrepid explorers in a new world, and continues today with enormous courage -- and sometimes enormous sacrifice -- from our astronauts in the limitless expanse of the stars. When in doubt, our history can guide us." More than 424,000 people participated over three weeks of voting. The Gateway to Discovery design drew 123,515 votes. The second-place design was an image of St. Augustine, which got 104,838 votes, followed by the Everglades (92,667 votes), a second design featuring a space shuttle (69,029) and one proclaiming Florida the Fishing Capital of the World (34,297). Bush had refused to disclose his favorite. But on Thursday he revealed his vote: the Everglades. "I thought it was beautiful," he said, adding that he is committed to protecting the fragile ecosystem. He pointed out that he had picked the five finalists and liked them all. But the space program is an integral part of Florida's history, Bush said, and a symbol of humanity's ability to dream. "Our past and our future is bright because we have a lot of dreamers, and explorers and people of all walks of life of tremendous diversity that make Florida the best of the 50 states," Bush said. "And this will be the best quarter in 50 states, as well." The history behind the winning design
It was not his first journey to the New World. The Spanish soldier arrived in Puerto Rico with Columbus in 1493 and later became the island's governor. Today, Cape Canaveral is synonymous with space travel. It first gained prominence during the space race of the 1950s, when the United States and the former Soviet Union competed vigorously to put the first satellite in orbit. The Russians succeeded with Sputnik in 1957, prompting the U.S. to bolster its space program. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy vowed to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade, a feat achieved in 1969. The first space shuttle was launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in April 1981. NASA has since launched 113 shuttle missions. Columbia was returning home to the cape Feb. 1 when it broke apart during re-entry.
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From the Times state desk
From the state wire
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