‘Message of Friendship’ : Children Give San Juan Classmate, Peace Scroll to Gorbachev a Send-Off

As a 1,000-foot scroll began to unfurl, a crowd of children Thursday strained to see the gift that their classmate, Tony Aliengena, 10, would take to the Soviet Union.

The 200 students at St. Margaret’s School in San Juan Capistrano would be the first to sign the so-called “Friendship Scroll” that Tony, a fourth-grader at the Episcopal school, will take to the Soviet Union as part of a round-the-world flight this summer.

The scroll is to be signed by American schoolchildren during the U.S. course of the flight for presentation to Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev upon Tony’s arrival in Moscow.

The Aliengena family of San Juan Capistrano hopes to collect 1 million signatures as a show of U.S. good will. Tony is also to deliver thousands of pen-pal letters from U.S. youngsters to Soviet counterparts. A huge stack of those letters were displayed Thursday.

“There it is, kids. There’s what we’re taking,” Tony’s father, Gary Aliengena, announced after the two unfurled the start of the scroll in the school auditorium, where children in grades one to five started the national signing process.

Tony stepped to the scroll and penned his name first, then gave his father a “high five.”

After Tony’s sister, Alaina, 9, signed her name next to Tony’s, Gary Aliengena showed the students a blown-up version of the scroll’s friendship message, printed in English and Russian.

The message, addressed to Gorbachev, read, in part: “We have come to your country with warm hearts and open arms. With us we carry our message of friendship. As we kids are the leaders of tomorrow, we can work together for a better world.”

Aliengena then asked the students to sign the scroll. “All of your signatures will be there forever,” he said.

The auditorium erupted into activity, as students filed forward.

“I’m really excited about it,” said David Turley, 10, who along with classmate Clarke Boyer, 10, were called to the front of the auditorium by Tony to accept T-shirts commemorating his so-called “Friendship Flight ’89.” Tony singled out the boys as his best friends.

Earlier Tony, in a shy, nervous voice, had made a brief speech.

“I’m real excited about the trip because I’ll be able to meet President Bush and Premier Gorbachev,” Tony said.

His pen pal, Romar Tcheremnykh, who will accompany him on the trip, “is really looking forward to coming,” Tony said.

According to Guy Murrel, coordinator of “Friendship Flight ‘89,” Tony is scheduled to meet with Gorbachev during a 3-day stay in Moscow. Murrel said he was also told this week by the office of Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) that Tony may meet Bush after the trip to present a similar friendship scroll from Soviet schoolchildren. That scroll is to be signed as Tony makes his way across the Soviet Union.

The trip is scheduled to begin June 5 and end July 21.

Although the theme is friendship between the superpowers, Tony will also be trying to set a world record as youngest pilot to circle the globe. Last year, he became the youngest pilot to cross the United States.

Tony is to pilot a single-engine Cessna 210 throughout the 17,000-mile trip.

A second plane, a twin-engine King Air, will carry spare parts, luggage and three journalists, both from the United States and the Soviet Union. A third plane will carry a film-making crew, which will produce a documentary on the trip.

In all, an entourage of more than 10 people will accompany Tony, including his father, sister and mother, Susan.

The project’s cost, estimated at $142,000, is being paid by several companies and by contributions to the nonprofit Children’s Center For International Relations, based in El Toro.