AMA News: District IX — 2007/04
Hi folks! This month I want to share one of the great events of the district from Colorado, and continue with our trip to Minot, North Dakota. So, as they say, on with the show!
Arvada, Colorado — "You Too Can Fly" Model Air Show
Reported by Chris Bart. Photos by Lee Jay Fingersh, Stories in Pictures Photography.
"What does a club do when the community it lives in gives them a fantastic flying site and then supports them in every way possible? That's the situation that the members of the Arvada Associated Modelers in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, found themselves in.
"They decided to put on a free local air show with a focus on the local townsfolk. This meant many novelty acts and a strong patriotic theme. They topped it off with a full afternoon of 'come one, come all' buddy-box flying.
"The site has two complete runways a quarter of a mile apart, so one gets used for the grandstand air show, while the other features the buddy-box line up. In addition, the club charges nothing for any of it and sells food for very low prices.
"'That attracts the families and that's what we're interested in,' said air-show chairman Chris Bart. 'We're looking for all sorts of members, so we want the whole family to try their hands on the sticks.'
"Rain slowed things down a bit this year, but the crowd last year was roughly 2,000. They already have the air show scheduled again for September 8, 2007."
Features of the event:
- Free local air show focused on families and community.
- Novelty acts and a strong patriotic theme.
- Buddy-box flying opportunities for beginners.
- Two runways a quarter mile apart (one for the grandstand show, one for buddy-box).
- No admission charge; low-cost food to attract families.
Northern Plains Odyssey — Part Three: Minot, North Dakota
Continuing my trip of August 23–29, 2006, Kansas City flying bud and traveling companion Don and I headed north from Bismarck to the northernmost point of our travels: Minot. After a short drive, we arrived at the Minot field. Now folks, you ain't seen anything like this flying field! Would you believe they even have wireless Internet service broadcast to the flightline?
The hospitality displayed by the Minot folks—in particular club president Dick Winje and spark plug Lanny Wade—is second to none. Don and I felt like lifelong members of their club. Why, even Russ Miller, my good friend and past District IX vice president, stopped by to say hello!
On Saturday night, Don and I were treated to a superb barbecue. A real compliment to the club: Don has been a judge at the third-largest barbecue contest in the nation in the Kansas City area for decades, and he told the Minot folks that their barbecue was simply outstanding!
After dinner we met under the shelter house where I gave a short PowerPoint presentation about AMA and answered questions. We loaded things in the dark and headed back to the hotel because we had a long trip to begin the next morning—an roughly eight-hour drive to Rapid City, South Dakota—but not without more stops and a bunch more flying!
I'll tell you what we missed on that drive next month. You won't believe I did this (but I bet many of you have done the same thing!).
Closing Remarks
I have been working on developing some videos for AMA and continuing other committee work. This year we held our January Executive Council meeting at the AMA National Convention in Ontario, California. I hope I had the opportunity to meet several of you.
Take care, keep in touch, and have fun!
Mark.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
