After Japan trip, councilmembers call for bigger local celebration of Pangborn story

WENATCHEE — Two Wenatchee city councilmembers say the city’s decades-long relationship with Misawa, Japan is not just alive — it’s something Wenatchee should be taking more seriously.

Councilmembers Travis Hornby and Top Rojanasthien just returned from Misawa and gave a report Wednesday night. They said the reception they got was warm enough that they “felt like rock stars,” and they urged the city to lean into two upcoming anniversaries: The sister city relationship itself, and the 100th anniversary of the first nonstop trans-Pacific flight, which ended here.

“It’s a big deal over there,” Rojanasthien said.

Hornby said Misawa officials made it clear they want Wenatchee to mark both milestones at full volume.

“We have a 100-year anniversary coming up,” Hornby said, referring to the anniversary of Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon’s 1931 nonstop flight from Misawa to East Wenatchee in the plane Miss Veedol. “I want to make sure that we start talking about that now, because before we know it, it will be here.”

Hornby also said the sister city relationship itself is approaching a major anniversary — “I think 50 years?” — and that both should be treated as community events, not just a formality.

“They were so excited to see us and talk to us,” he said. “I felt like a rock star over there.”

“They rolled out the red carpet,” Rojanasthien added. “We got an amazing banquet when we arrived, and then they sent us off with an amazing farewell banquet.”

Everybody in Misawa knows Miss Veedol

Both councilmembers said the Wenatchee Valley might actually be behind Misawa when it comes to celebrating local aviation history.

Rojanasthien said that in Misawa, the story of Clyde Pangborn’s 1931 belly-landing in East Wenatchee is everywhere, even literally on light poles.

“If you go through town, their light posts — they’re Miss Veedol light posts,” he said. “Everyone knows the story there, as a kid to an adult.”

He said he spent time in Misawa’s aviation museum and came away thinking Wenatchee needs to tell the story with the same kind of energy Misawa does.

“If you don’t know the story, I learned a bunch at their aviation museum there, and it could easily be like an HBO movie,” he said. “The story is amazing. It’s cool that it happened here. The first nonstop trans-Pacific flight landed right over there. It’s amazing.”

That “could be a movie” line isn’t just hype, although the councilmember didn’t know it. A Wenatchee Valley filmmaker, Kris Lahd, was recently named a finalist in the 2025 Big Break Competition for his script “The Pacific Gambit,” which dramatizes Pangborn and Herndon’s flight.

Hornby said he’d like Wenatchee to start actively gearing up for the 100-year commemoration now, in partnership with East Wenatchee and the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center. He said the museum’s director, Marriah Thornock, wants to make 2031–32 “a giant celebration,” and also wants Wenatchee prepared to welcome visiting delegations from Misawa during those events.

“We’ve got to make it a big deal here,” Hornby said.

Student exchanges and youth focus

Hornby also said he wants to see Wenatchee send more youth to Japan.

“They have 15 or so youth come this direction. We had five,” he said. “They were wonderful kids, but I think there’s an opportunity to increase that with scholarships and that kind of stuff. It’s an amazing experience, even at 51 years old. I think it was great.”

Rojanasthien agreed and said he wants to “not only continue the Sister City [relationship] but grow on it and show them the love as well.”

A few snapshots from the trip

Hornby and Rojanasthien also spent part of their update just sharing pieces of what they saw:

• Bullet train: After two days in Tokyo, they took the Shinkansen north to Misawa. Hornby said he checked the speed on his phone and clocked it at 198 mph. Rojanasthien said the most impressive thing wasn’t just the speed — it was how smooth the ride was. “To travel, I don’t know, a distance like from here to California in a few hours, it was really cool,” he said. They even stacked coins on the train to see if the vibration would shake them over. “The coins didn’t fall over,” Hornby said.
  
  
• Homestays: Both stayed with host families. Hornby’s host family included a high school student who rides the train two hours each way to attend a smaller school. Hornby said he cooked breakfast one morning — fried potatoes with onions, plus “an egg scramble with a bunch of vegetables and some cheese” — and “they absolutely loved it.”
  
  
• Ceremonies: “They welcomed us in an amazing banquet, and then they sent us off in an amazing farewell banquet,” Rojanasthien said.
  
  
• Cultural exchange moments: During that farewell dinner, the hosts handed them “shovel guitars,” improvised novelty instruments, and basically told them to perform. Hornby and Rojanasthien played along. They showed the video to the Wenatchee City Council Wednesday night, and everyone in the room was openly impressed with their apparent skill at the bizarre instrument. “This was sprung on us. We did not plan,” Hornby said.
  
  
• Temples and markets: They toured one of Tokyo’s major Shinto sites — including a massive cypress-wood torii gate built without nails — and visited a century-old market where Hornby bought a handmade Japanese knife.
  
  

“We just had a great time,” Hornby said. “It’s an amazing experience.”

Next steps locally

Hornby said people here will get a chance to engage with that shared history next month.

He announced that “The Spirit of Wenatchee,” a film about Miss Veedol and the Pangborn flight, will screen November 10 from 6–8 p.m. at Pybus Public Market. The showing is being promoted by the Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center. Hornby said flyers and outreach are coming.

“They’re coming during Apple Blossom,” he added, meaning Misawa delegates are expected to visit Wenatchee in the spring, in time for the festival.

Rojanasthien closed his remarks by saying the trip didn’t feel ceremonial. It felt like a reminder.

“I think experiencing that, I want to not only continue the Sister City, but grow on it,” he said. “Show them the love as well.”

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media