Hi Marcia
Marsfest!
It was a friday night for us (or rather a saturday morning very early); we were following the descent of Mars Pathfinder on CNN and there were many many live reports from either Pasadena (where a huge Mars gathering took place) and Washington where the NSS was feasting it too.
Vice-President Al Gore got into the Mars mood too. Then came the first black and white stamps- like pictures, one after the other. One showed a mountain or a hill in the horizon with a huge "Haaaa" from the crowd.
I got the whole event on video (sometimes recorded both CNN and the BBC simultaneoulsy) and there are days worth of videos.
John Holliman said in the excitment: "It's great to be alive".
Unfortunately, he died the year after.

Mars Pathfinder launched in great idifference but cought the imaginations of so many when it landed.

Raoul