Back in the 50's when things were just swell - way back before digital, cable, and cell.
With seams on our nylons and fins on our cars we dreamed of the future and looked to the stars. Then - one day in October 1957 - the Russians! They beat us - up into the heavens!
And then, just to add to our Cold War type fears, TIME named some Russian guy Man of the Year! One rocket for Russia, one big leap for man - that fateful Red Monday the Space Age began. Sputnik I was the first, a big shiny chrome ball, but it wasn't the last, there were 10 Sputniks in all. Sputnik II carried Laika, a cosmonaut pup - unfortunately, though he survived the ride up and become the first space traveler of the 20th century ... Sputnik II and the doggy burned up on re-entry. Sputnik III was cone-shaped with antennas and arms and an instrument payload (no critters were harmed). Sputnik IV is the one that has caused all the fuss - 'cause it went up over there and came down upon us!
It weighed 5 full tons this big Russian tin can and instead of a dog Sputnik IV held a man! (Well, not a real man in this Soviet rocket, the word "Dummy" you see, spelled in Russian, is "Maket")	It was a test run for a real live space man would ride Sputnik next (at least that was the plan). As best-laid plans go, for both mice and for men, Sputnik IV had some problems and met a bad end. Did the rocket misfire? Was some part out of place? Well, they had one more first - yes, the first "lost in space". For two years, three months, and some twenty-odd days Sputnik IV stayed aloft, then came down in a blaze. What goes up must come down, that's as true now as then - the big problem was no one knew where or when.
With a whole big wide world where this thing could have crashed and plenty of oceans where it could have splashed - What chance it would pick the Midwest to come down? ... and not just the Midwest It came down in our town!
While most of the Sputnik burned up from the heat, a twenty-pound chunk came down on 8th Street and imbedded itself in a three-inch-deep hole. Later, found by police officers out on patrol. It was studied and photographed - the "news of the day". Though it's been part of a Rahr-West display, Manitowoc's ties to the early space age have been kind of forgotten - no longer "front page". It's time that this oversight just has to end. SPUTNIKFEST - It's Coming! Tell all your friends. Poem by Terry Dimmick