Hey Fliers!
Welcome to the new year, I hope Santa brought you a new Plane, Helicopter, or Quadcopter! I have seen quite a few new toys over the last month and a lot of Smiling faces.
I saw a lot of you at the club banquet on the 13th. I wish more were able to attend. It was a great time at an amazing venue, and a chance to see the spouses that put up with our craziness. I hope to see more at next years event.
One answer I heard quite a bit when I asked members why there were not attending was the cost of the banquet this year. All I can say is that it should be a surprise to no one that EVERYTHING is way more expensive this year. Costs are out of control. The club still covered over half of the total costs for the venue, dinner, and raffle prizes for the pilots and guests – that goes to show what the overall cost was.
To remove some of that burden from next years event I have initiated some fundraising efforts. At each organized club event this year I will hold a 50/50 raffle. For those that have never played 50/50, I will sell tickets for $10 each. When the event ends, generally before noon, we will draw one ticket and the ticket holder will win 50% of the funds collected, with the other 50% going into the fund for the next banquet. There will always be a winner, and always money towards the banquet to reduce individual cost. Winners so far are Fritz Logan, and Scott Vance. Additionally, Jovi is procuring a tidy sum of money from the BOD which he will use to get some higher end prizes for at least two fundraising raffles this year. For these events, you know the reasoning and You will benefit at the end, so please participate as able and let’s have a grand event next year!
One thing I mentioned personally at the Banquet was to say “ THANK YOU!!” to everyone. Some of you know that I had open heart surgery just before Christmas in 2021. A few of you have shared similar experiences. I will say that the friendship and camaraderie of club members was crucial in getting me out of the recovery bed and back in action. Randy brought me to the field a week after surgery, and I had a radio in my hands less than 2 weeks out. Each day since has presented different challenges, but I always look forward to weekend flying with the greatest group I have ever been a part of.
As we move into 2023 we have seen a large amount of rainfall and the field is in amazing shape right now. Moving forward we can expect the rainfall to taper off drastically. We may have one or two more showers before we hit the dry season. Our runway is made of clay and footprints/gullies will stay for months if we don’t stay off of the wet runway. I have been AMAZED at the amount of pushback we received this month when asking members to let the field dry for a few days before use. Sadly, Alligator tears kept the surface damp longer than required… Please, as I mentioned in a note late December – Exercise common sense. If there is standing water in the parking lot or on the runway – save your flight for a day or two. If there are noticeable dark spots on the runway, avoid them as if they are quicksand, and finally- if you know your landing skill is not at a capability level to avoid the dark spots, please save your flights for a day or two. I don’t have enough fingers to count the number of times a member has stated “ My tiny plane won’t leave marks!”, only to see him get his “tiny plane” stuck in the mud and walk his not so tiny 200 pounds out to retrieve the plane. Again, Common Sense Please!
I want to promote knowing each other better as a club. In that effort I am going to ask 3 or 4 of you each month to participate in a volunteer only member in the spotlight. I will ask each to prepare a paragraph or two with a quick background on yourself, how long you have been in the hobby, what aspects you enjoy the most, and anything else you would like to share. I will tag a few members at this months meeting and see what we get.
Talking about this months meeting at the field:
It will be on the 28th, and the fun fly event is one of the clubs favorites, and the only one where you can win cash money as a prize. DON’T SPILL THE BEANS! Don’t miss it! The fun fly will kick off around 10:00 AM and will be followed by the first club meeting of the year, then lunch.
I hope everyone has a GREAT year!!
Brad
