7S5 Pilot Memorial Event Planning Meeting
The meeting was
called to order at 7:00 PM by chairman Tom.
Present were: Andy Andersen, Doug Davis, Bob Altmis, Ron Hanna, Harry Malette,
Pete Weber, Robert English, Tom Ritchey, Deborah Plymate, Wayne Nutsch, Al
Cleveland, and Margeret Wilson.
MINUTES: Copies of the draft minutes, as posted
on-line, were passed around. Bob
Altemus had one correction; he will not be giving an invocation, but rather a
"welcome" speech after the invocation.
CORRESPONDENCE: Andy went through some correspondence;
the mayor could not be here this evening, Larry Weber will be at the OPA
meeting in Lebanon with Dave Martin.
Jake Thiessen will be filling in as the fourth man in the RV missing-man
formation fly-by. The radio station
will not have a live broadcast coming from the event this year, though they
will advertise the event as a public service.
The police chief said he would help with the traffic, even though he
could not be here this evening. The
fire chief had his budget committee meeting this evening, so he could not be
here. The license for this event has
been granted from the ODA. Dannielle
Racatto said she would be glad to play "taps" for us, and Pam Domick
said she would repaint one wall as requested.
EVENT: The sound system may not have to be
rented after all, but Andy already reserved a rented system just in case. The barricades will be set up first thing in
the morning. The "no smoking"
signs will be delivered, and the mobile flagpole will come the Sunday
before. Ceremonial flags will go up,
with Andy raising the ones on the main pole (including the MIA flag). Weather hasn't been a problem for the last
ten years, though a hasty plan "B" would be to open up the Powers'
hangar to fit folks in there. The
chairs and tables come over from the Gabel's hangar to the Powers' hangar
during the morning, and the EAA chairs to the grassy area, which will occur
around 8:00. The fly-over of the F-15s
was next on the agenda: Lt. Yeats had written wanting to know where 7S5 was,
and he was told to look for the drainage ponds to the south of the runway. They will be flying over at around 1200 ft. The helicopters will have a larger blade
reach than the available helipads are built for, so they will probably be using
another part of the tarmack for landing.
The ceremony begins at 11:00.
There's supposed to be four AmVets, at least three, to lead the pledge
of allegience and raise the flag. This
could be a joint venture with the boy scout troup; that will be determined
later. There could be a CD player with
the P.A. equipment for the vocalization of the Star Spangled Banner; Suzanne
Bladow is to do the vocalizing. Bob
Roach will do the invocation and Bob Altemus will make the welcoming
speech. Hooley's office has said that
the flags will be here in time for the event.
The deceased "crop-duster" pilots' families will receive the
memorial presentation. Margeret Wilson
will make the presentation. The
"missing man formation" will be at around 11:20. "Taps" will be sounded by Danielle
Ritacco after that. The OPA will open
the hangar out for lunch shortly after, with the meals going for $5.00 with 20%
to go toward the organization of the event.
There will be a bulletin board with a list of the deceased similar to
last year's display. The B-17 will be
on seven-day notice as to whether they will be able to make this event or
not. Marquis Spa has provided their
parking lot for us, and the bus from the Baptist Church will be available. The shuttle should start at around 10:15,
and was originally scheduled to end after the last demonstration (1:15 PM or
so) but it was suggested that 3:00 might be better. Depending on how many people are actually taking the bus, we may
send one of the busses back to its barn earlier. Harry Malette has also provided his parking lot for emergency
vehicle usage. The porta-potties will
be there just adjacent to the FBO restroom (thanks, Harry). ELT exercise may or may not happen; that
will be determined later. The posters
are being made by Alecia Brown, and Lois Martin has made up the program which
will be printed up by Farnstrom's as they did last year. Drafts of the program were passed around and
evaluated. The program should be
finalized within the week. There were
only a few minor changes suggested to the draft as presented. A drawing for free rides was suggested, and
Harry said he would provide the fuel if others supplied the rides. The restaurant will stay open during the
ceremonies. Keeping people from sitting
on the wings of airplaines will be a full-time job for voluntary security
personnel.
The meeting was
adjourned at 7:58 PM.
Respectfully
submitted by Robert English, ISAS secretary.
Meeting0515.doc