The bi-monthly program “The History around Us” at the Reynolds Homestead will host former “Rocket Boy” Roy Lee Cooke on Wednesday, August 2 at noon.

Cooke, a founding member of the Big Creek Missile Agency, will speak about his career and his days in Coalwood, W. Va.

When Cooke was 13, his father died at the age of 45, after working his entire adult life in the Coalwood mine. His mother then began working in the school cafeteria to support the two of them.

Cooke later attended Big Creek High School, and it was there that Cooke and his friends Jimmy “O’Dell” Carroll, Homer Hickam Jr., Billy Rose, Sherman Siers and Quentin Wilson decided they could play a role in the space race. They formed the Big Creek Missile Agency and began making and launching their own rockets.

With the encouragement of one teacher, their efforts were eventually successful. Hickam went on to be one of NASA’s first scientists, and the other rocket boys went on to successful careers and lives of their own, beating the odds after graduating from Big Creek High School in the dirt-poor Appalachian town of Coalwood.

After graduating from high school, Cooke began his college career at Concord College in Athens, W. Va. He later transferred to the University of Maryland where he earned a degree. He is also a graduate of the American Institute of Banking in Washington, D.C.

Cooke, one of the original Rocket Boys, was portrayed in the film “October Sky.”

His program is free and open to the public. Attendees are invited to bring a bag lunch and enjoy the presentation.

Following the presentation, the monthly volunteer meeting will be held downstairs. Anyone interested in learning more about opportunities to support the programming and mission of the Reynolds Homestead is invited to attend. Lunch is provided.