Zooming In

Saturday arrived in a hurry after a late night on Friday, but just about everybody woke up feeling a little puny. I was okay in the morning, but as the morning progressed my head started pounding, and then my headache got bad enough that it made my stomach sick. I took the medicine I had available, but it just wasn't cutting it, and let me tell you, a borderline baddie like that is bad enough in day to day activities, but when you've got the constant noise of airplanes like the loud T-6 blowing overhead every few minutes, it's downright painful. I couldn't really eat lunch because my stomach was upset, and I was having difficulty enjoying the event or doing much to help with it. Finally I realized my hands and legs were shaking, so I went and laid down on Dale's couch in the back room of the office for a few minutes. By the time the afternoon wound down, I was finally able to eat dinner and feel a little better. Steve was running on very little sleep, everybody was just pooped from working so hard all week to get stuff ready and from staying up so late the night before.

Meanwhile, the Bash went on around us doing just fine. The airplane rides were steady, the flow of people was steady, the food was prepared and taken care of in a top notch way, the DJ had the tunes going non-stop with lots of "flying" themes, some young ladies sold candy and soft drinks all day to tide people over, we had a pedal plane raffle booth, Ann took care of the SMA table, which she did a wonderful job preparing, setting up, and manning (womaning), and the ladies working the ticket booth did a great job too. We sold BBQ and Glenndale hats and t-shirts and SMA bears and bracelets and pins and shirts. The "Ramp Dudes" did a fantastic job keeping everyone safe at the event, keeping people out of the way of the running airplanes, marshaling the pilots to the proper parking and fueling and loading spots, briefing and loading up the passengers going on their rides, all that stuff. We had golf cart drivers who took people from parking to the event and back to their cars when they were done, who also took people from one end of the airport to the other if need be. We had tower guys (gals) who stood up in Jim Wright's tower and acted as "Air Boss", letting pilots know of traffic sequencing and just keeping things organized and safe in the air and on the ground. We had Operations guys who helped empty trash cans and keep things picked up around the event. Cookers who manned the grills and ladies who kept us supplied and organized. Pilots who spent two days sitting in a small airplane for hours straight to give ride after ride over Kokomo to folks. Folks who watch the kid area and make sure nobody is bleeding or beating on anyone else. Corporate sponsors who donate either money or supplies for the Bash so we don't have to use SMA money to bring in SMA money. Hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch were donated, pizza was donated, Coke products were donated, airplanes were donated, the BBQ dinner itself was donated along with all the food that went with it. You can see that this is no small undertaking, and how impossible it would be if we had to pay all these people for their help. We couldn't have an event if that were the case, but thankfully we do have a huge array of people who are willing to come out once a year and work their rear-end off for no pay whatsoever just to have a good time and help out a good cause.

Nathan brought the Mustang in on Saturday, much to the delight of folks. You can see folks standing on the roof of the "tower" off to the left, and folks gathering around as he shuts down. (You can click on the photo to enlarge it a bit.) Nothing matches the sound of that engine blowing by at 249 knots, and a lot of people are really surprised each year when he actually lands it on our little grass strip. This year we parked it in the middle of the place, and it made for a nice centerpiece. That morning they did a photo shoot with Nathan's Mustang and his T-6, with their matching paint schemes, using another T-6 as the "photo ship". It wasn't the best lighting for it, but Trey got some good pictures, which he generously left for us, and I'll go through and put some up on Nathan's site when I get the chance.

We did have one little bit of excitement this year. For the first time ever since we've been having these events, we had to call an ambulance onto the field. Fortunately it was nothing to do with us, nothing we did, etc., but an older woman basically felt faint and sat down on the grass. She wasn't really responding appropriately, so folks laid her down on the grass, and one of our guys grabbed a woman we know who happened to be there who is a doctor, after calling 911 just to be on the safe side. We had a blood pressure kit and a stethoscope there for her to work with, and the doctor agreed she needed to be taken in and seen at the hospital. We ended up with two ambulances on our field loading her up, and they arrived at the same time our skydivers dropped in for the first time, so it looked like a skydiver wiped out or something to people. Fortunately not!! :) The woman was hydrated at the ER and later released and doing fine, so all is well that ends well. I am thankful that so far we've had these events with nobody being hurt, and that this first time we had to utilize our 911 services out there that it was basically for someone overdoing it a bit on a warm day.

Saturday evening the Bash wound down around 8 or 9 p.m., and we packed up and headed home without much delay. I walked in the door around 9:20 p.m. and I was in bed and asleep by 9:30 p.m. I kid you not. I was OUT. And I stayed out until 7:30 the next morning, too. I slept like a log, I don't remember a thing, I and everyone else around me was flat out worn out! The Main BBQ Bash Day passed safely and enjoyably with beautiful weather and a nice turn out!