The story of Washington’s own Ricky Walker and his “Ralston Rocket” is almost too much to believe. In 1953, 10-year-old Ricky Walker entered a contest sponsored by Ralston Purina to win a huge “rocket” just like the one featured on the wildly-popular television and radio show, Space Patrol. The contest, announced on September 19, 1953, asked kids to name “Planet X,” home of the show’s arch villain. Ricky liked to enter contests, and so, like children all over the country, he entered this one. And….he won! The next steps were incredible: a visit to his house from executives from Ralston Purina, news media coverage from across the globe, a feature story in Life magazine, and a local holiday dedicated to the arrival of the rocket known as “Ricky Walker Day” in Washington. This incredible story has it all: the thrill of a local boy winning a national contest, a community rallying around this improbable event, and all the nostalgia of the 1950s (cereal contests! Space! Television!). Clearly, this is a story that needs telling, and Mary Penn has told it! Lifelong Washington resident Mary Penn has written and illustrated a delightful children’s book all about Ricky Walker and his rocket. The program will be led by Mary (and hopefully an appearance by Ricky himself!) and will be all about the story of Ricky Walker and his rocket. She will tell not only his story, but the story of the connection between Ralston Purina and Space Patrol, the picture of life in the 1950s, and even the personal story of how the retelling of the events of 1953 / 1954 on the Historical Society’s social media in 2021 December newsletter reunited Rick Walker and his brother with Washington and with two long lost childhood friends who used to play in Ricky’s rocket with him. And of course, Mary will read her new book to those assembled!