THANK YOU!
the 2004 Convention Staff
who made it work - from Jeff Goin
See their mugs - click here!
 These volunteers
came forward to accept responsibility for the safe,
smooth execution of various functions. Their help was greatly appreciated!
Fortunately they looked much better then the fellow pictured
right. This shot, by Jamie Beckett, is yours truly on one of many bad hair days.
I would like to
thank the following for their enormous contribution. Did I say enormous?
I meant gigANTIC!
Greg Kaspar -
early on he worked out all the registration details, handled the
insurance and let me cry on his shoulder when necessary.
Steve Boser - This man
had a vendor booth there and you'd never know it. He would just make things
happen and was indespensible in that capacity. He also donated to the raffle and
other things I can't remember. This is the type of guy where "I'll take
care of it" means you can forget about it, whatever "it" might
be.
David Friedrich - He
jumped into this thing cannonball style, being responsible for registration and
handling many details before and during the convention. He and Greg worked
together on the registration which went very smoothly.
Richard Good -
for braving the rather extensive list of risks to provide a really cool
aerobatics/maneuvers show. He will certainly be invited back for more of
the same next year. Also to his Mom, Sandy, who looked on without saying
ANYTHING bad to me!
 Eric
Dufour - Thrust testing, mass launching animal. If anybody's dog was gone for a
while it is because Eric managed to launch the critter during the mass launch.
In addition to that he was testing motors nearly continuously when he wasn't
flying or massing. His lovely wife Elisabeth is tabulating the results and they
will be posted when she is complete. (photo at left by Marty Hathaway: Eliot
talking with Eric - click to enlarge)
Frencesco DeSantis -
Carrying out the layout fell to "Check" which he did with aplomb. Then
when things were winding down he saw to it that Fantasy's property and the
club's property were accounted for and in their proper place. Now if we can just
figure out who stole that one fellows tent!
Dawn Pistocchi - Spelled
with an "h" and pronounced with an oak. Pist oak ee. Setup, teardown,
raffle, good humor and a willingness to jump in where needed - a breath of fresh
air in a pretty package.
Jose & Javier of
Aerolight - They always support us grandly and this year also offered another
help. They offered, for pilots who spoke Spanish, briefings that could be
understood. Eric Dufour and CC Moisan also helped in this regard with some
French speakers.
Lynn Frey & JJ
Jackson - Kept the 4-wheeler running back and forth with pilots during the busy
times. Thanks Jim Jackson for loaning it.
Terry Alford for loaning
us the boat which we fortunately did not use. Sorry about the trailer. John
Coulter from Atlanta was kind enough to man it for the mass launch. He tells us:
"next year I'll be flying!"
Safety Officers. The landowner says: "sure, you're
welcome to use my land but would you mind..." The job of the organizer and
safety officers is to make sure we comply with the landowner's (Kermit Weeks)
simple requests. Many thanks go to those who took on this sometimes thankless
duty. The VAST majority of pilots were very cooperative - only a very few showed
disrespect to those in charge. It is a shame too since they risked our continued
flying at this most wonderful location. Thanks to the men who took on this
important position of safety officer.
Don Jordan - "I'm not gonna talk to that guy ONE MORE
TIME!"
George Hawkins - Master of the tarps, minder of the field.
Steve Boser - Is there anything this guy did NOT do?
David Friedrich - He relieved me fly on the day of departure.
Ooooh I needed that!
Terry Alford - braving family obligations he made it out
Jeff Thompson - "Do i HAVE to wear that hat?"
Rob Reynolds - "Give me that radio, I'll take care of
it"
Bill Corbett & David Warfield - Minding the manners of the
lingerers. There was one (a vendor) that got airborne after the event closed
down and fortunately Bill & Dave got them on the ground in time. We are
lucky that didn't get us permanently kicked out.
Fantasy of Flight - These folks were wonderful to work
with. Absolutely wonderful. They tolerated our ever-changing banquet numbers,
were flexible on all matters regarding the field and were helpful at every turn.
We missed seeing Kermit, appreciate Jesse's working with us, Lynn for the fence,
Andy for extreme tolerance and help, Becki for that last minute credit card
thing, Sarah for adapting so quickly to this new (to her) group of airheads and
their pilots for tolerating our viral invasion of their airspace. They've even
setup a way for us to fly there on a regular basis, more on that to come.
photo by Scott Adair
Some of the volunteers:
    
Chris Collins, Jeff Thompson, Rob Reynolds, Eric Dufour, Greg Kaspar,
    
Dawn Pistocchi, Francesco DeSantis, Terry Alford,
Steve Boser, Don Jordan
 
Dave Warfied, Bill Corbett
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