Luiz Pagano receives the medal 'Merit of Cabangu'
Autor: Luiz Pagano | Publicado: 2014-07-25T08:23:00-07:00



Luiz Pagano receives the medal 'Mérito de Cabangú (Merit of Cabangu) from the hands of Mr. Tomás Castelo Branco


This Friday I had the great honor to receive the medal "Merit of Cabangu" for my work to preserve, disseminate and improve the memory Santos=Dumont (my work could be seen on this blog).

leia este artigo em Português

The ceremony took place on July 18, 2014, at the Farm Cabangu in a city called Santos Dumont, in the estate of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It was the event tha would celebrate the 141st anniversary of Santos=Dumont birth by Cabangu House Foundation, by the patron Jorge Henrique Dumont Dodsworth, the Preparatory School of the Air Cadets and the Municipality of Santos Dumont - MG. At the ceremony it were handed medals "Merit of Cabangu" and "Merit Santos=Durnont".




Luiz Pagano and Jane Bieringuer in Cabangu – MG



The Medal "Merit of Cabangu" was established on April 2, 2005, for the commemoration on birth of Alberto Santos Dumont, on July 20th, 1873 in Cabangu Farm. Was created to distinguish people who have contributed to the preservation, promotion and enhancement of the "Museu Casa Natal de Santos=Dumont" (The Homeland museum of Santos=Dumont). The Medal "Santos Dumont Merit" was established by the Air Ministry Decree No. 39,905 of September 5, 1956 in honor of Alberto Santos=Dumont, in celebration of the 1st flight of the 14 Bis. Brazilian Air Force awards the distinction to citizens who have become entitled to receive the honors.

On the moment of my arrival I was kindly received by Mrs. Monica and Mr. Tomás Castelo Branco, coordinators of Cabangu House Foundation, and trustees of the namesake museum, amidst a band and military buglers, I was invited to take my place in grandstand.

The ceremony began exactly 10 o'clock in the morning with military honors and homage to the Patron of the Air Force, The Air Marshal Alberto Santos=Dumont, then they entered into a military formation, in order to begin the reading of the official agenda by the Commander of the Air Force, we sang the Aviators Anthem, and finally the ceremony of delivering of medals, made by Mr. Tomas Castelo Branco

Among medal recipients of this year, was the astronomer of the Astronomical Observatory of the city of Piracicaba (state of São Paulo), Travnik Nelson, author of the first photograph of the crater on the Moon named after Brazilian Santos=Dumont, taken in 2006, the year of celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the flight of the 14-Bis.

Other recipients of the medal in previous years were Dr. Henrique Lins de Barros, researcher and biographer of Santos=Dumont with several published works, João Luís Musa photographer who restored and published awesome new photos Aviator and also great biographer Mrs Laurete Godoy , author of seven books on aviation and on Greek mythology.




Luiz Pagano receives the medal 'Merit of Cabangu' - With high collar, Cartier Santos and hat S=D style



At the end of the medal delivering ceremony, I along with the other holders of medals, which had gone out of military formation to stand at the right side of Brazilian Flag, returned to our seats in the grandstand for the hearing, in my opinion, one of the most exciting moment of the day, when Tomás told us the story of Cabangu Museum.

Very few people knows that the idea of building the museum, as well as the decision to change the name of the city came on the very same day of the death of aviator (July 23rd, 2932). The name changed in a quickly decision, on July 31, 1932, by the state decree n ° 10.447, the city was no longer called Palmyra in order to become Santos Dumont, but, in other hand, the creation of the museum still follows a much more difficult path.

A few days after the death of aviator in 1932, some citizens of Palmyra decided to go check on his home and became very sad to see the dilapidated state of the house, inhabited by squatters, with belongings and documents scattered all over the place. They immediately expelled the invaders and proceeded to the guardianship of existing goods in house of Cabangu.

The statute of the museum was not written until February 9, 1949, but the harsh struggles to protect the house and farm of Santos=Dumont seemed to be an ungrateful task. Without any help from any government agency, the foundation has only had her first visit of the Air Ministry on 23 October 1952, which started to pay attention to the historical legacy.

In order to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the aviator, in 1973, it was created the National Commission for the Commemoration of the Air Force, then graduated from the House Museum of Santos=Dumont and even a road was built to connect the museum to the road BR 499.

Finally in 2006 the museum received the first help from Federal Government and a headquarters was built. The dream of Alberto Santos=Dumont, who made clear the intention to transform the farmhouse into a museum, began to take its first steps.

According to Mr. Tomás, there is still much to be done, and he (like me) hopes one day to see our country giving the due weight to our historical legacy of Santos=Dumont, and other important figures of our history.




Officials entered into military formation, in order to begin the reading of the official agenda by the Commander of the Air Force, we sang the Aviators Anthem and the event ended with the ceremony of delivering the medals, made by Mr. Tomas Castelo Branco



Below, &nbsp;the Aviators Anthem Lyrics in Portuguese



Vamos filhos altivos dos ares

Nosso vôo ousado alçar

Sobre campos, cidades e mares

Vamos nuvens e céus enfrentar



D´astro rei desafiamos os cimos

Bandeirantes audazes do azul

Às estrelas de noite subimos

Para orar ao Cruzeiro do Sul



Contato, companheiros !

Ao vento sobranceiros

Lancemos o roncar

Da hélice a girar



Mas se explode o corisco no espaço

Ou a metralha na guerra rugir

Cavaleiros do século do aço

Não nos faz o perigo fugir



Não importa a tocaia da morte

Pois que a pátria dos céus o altar

Sempre erguemos de ânimo forte

O holocausto da vida a voar



Contato, companheiros !

Ao vento sobranceiros

Lancemos o roncar


Da hélice a girar