ISAS Review & Planning Meeting
for 2006 Memorial Fly-By
The meeting was
called to order at 7:00 pm by event chairman Tom Ritchey. Present were Andy Andersen, Phyllis Upright,
Pete Weber, Ed Hannevig, Rod Gabel, Betty Plude, Dave Martin, Tom Franklin,
Louise Parsons, Tom Ritchey, and Rod Gilman.
After
introductions all around, Tom Ritchey said that the Memorial Day Fly-By would
be during the time when he is involved with the Primary Elections which would
make his schedule hectic during that period.
He asked for a volunteer to be co-chairman for this event, and Betty
Plude suggested new airpark resident Fred Krieg as a possible candidate. Robert English volunteered to serve as
recorder and Andy stepped up to assist in that duty.
The events surrounding
the fly-by were next to be discussed.
Since the restaurant may or may not be open, Andy's suggestion was that
a return to the roots by having the community itself host it. There was also some discussion about selling
water at the event, since the 2005 Fly-By had no drinking water available. Since the Fly-By itself happens at 12:00,
the serving of the food needs to happen around that time too. Discussion also centered around seperating
the airpark visitors from the airplane tarmack since there's many attending who do not know to stay away
from dangerous areas.
The length and
content of the program was next to be discussed. Dave Martin suggested resolving some conflicts by starting the
event earlier - last year's flying started at 11:00, but Dave thought that
another half hour would allow enough time for the parts of the event to not
overlap. Keeping the menu simple, as
opposed to having a huge variety of things, stands a good chance of success
judging from past events. If hamburgers
are offered, proper condiments (which were a problem last year) need to be
offered - hot dogs are easier to cook and the condiments are easier too. Last year's food concession cost $248.00,
and that was with the restaurant open, so the cost may go up this coming year.
There was some
question about having National Guard aircraft on display, including some
Blackhawk helicopters - last year there were some scheduling conflicts that
didn't allow that to happen, so if the scheduling is done early enough we can
get.those aircraft here for the Fly-By.
F-15s are a possibility too, according to Rod Gilman. Some concern about the participants not
attending the pre-event briefing was also expressed. The warbirds from Salem will not be participating next year. The RVs would participate, but the timing of
the missing man formation (of which they are a part) needed to be figured out.
Parking
concession was also discussed - the Marquis Spa lot was used to good success,
with two busses in service - from the YMCA and Baptist Church. Andy said that he would handle getting these
busses for our use again for the coming event.
For additional parking, the grassy area facing the runway seemed good to
all present, with possibly some organization like Boy Scouts organizing it for a concession. Communications were discussed: since both
civilian and military aircraft are likely, a radio that can use both UHF and
VHF is necessary. Ron said that the
portable National Guard unit comes with its own generator and has an antenna
that can be extended 40 or 50 feet.
The program was
another item which was scrutinized, since there was a deadline problem with the
program last year. The mortuary has
the ability to make these up, and it was decided that they would be approached
to print these. Posters sent as email
attachments was an idea that was floated around, and it seemed to be agreeable
because it saved on printing expense.
The PA was a potentially
expensive part of the event: Ron Gabel said that he would take the
responsibility for that.
The
porta-potties concession was handled adequately last year, but there was some
discussion about who else might have these available. The owner of "Honey Bucket" is aviation-friendly, and
could be persuaded to donate the service for promotion purposes. David Evans Associates is another company
that could be able to help out in this regard, and Tom Franklin said he would
contact somebody in that office.
The flag and
memorial wreath were the last items to be discussed. Andy considered the wreath-laying ceremony a key part of the
event, and last year's wreath was too small.
Rod said that he knew of a florist near where he worked. Louise Parsons said that there were florists
in Corvallis that she could ask about a possible donation of a wreath. The presentation of the wreath was done by a
member of Darlene Hooley's staff last year, and it was considered to be a good
idea to repeat that. The person to give
the speech about the significance of Memorial Day was up in the air this
year. Phyllis Upright suggested Dr.
LaTulippe as a speaker, and though no one had heard of him it was taken as a suggestion. The bugler from last year was excellent - a student from the
local High School - but it was not known if this student had graduated or
not. Some mention was made about the
people who performed the ceremony at Buzz Buzzwell's funeral.
The length of
time necessary to read out all of the names last year was a point that all
agreed something needed to be changed.
Rod suggested a display of names, and point them out for people to visit
in remembrance rather than have the names read aloud. The list could be kept in perpetuity from year to year, adding to
it as necessary. This was considered a
good idea.
The next meeting
date was set for January 2 of 2006 - same time same place. The meeting was adjourned at 8:41 PM.
Respectfully
submitted by Robert Engish, ISAS secretary