I am writing my third monthly column
and I’m only one month into my term as
vice president!
I have been busy in this first month.
The video on the Web site is up and
running, the associate vice presidents’
columns on the site are being read and the
safety column there is getting much
attention as well.
I attended a new officer orientation in
Muncie the first weekend in January. I
don’t want to spend a lot of space
concerning that trip other than to say the
staff members at AMA Headquarters were
exceptional. They were prepared, briefed
me professionally, and patiently answered
the multitude of questions I presented.
You/we should be proud of them and
the work they do for our association. I just
want to publicly say thanks to Jim Cherry
and the staff. I look forward to working
with them during the next several years.
I also toured the entire facility at
Muncie. I was awed at the size of the flying
area and couldn’t find enough time to
spend in the store and museum. That will
have to be an extended trip at a later date.
Get there if you can; you won’t be sorry!
The second weekend in January I attended
the AMA Convention in Ontario,
California. This will be covered
extensively elsewhere in the magazine. I
enjoyed the convention and my wife Linda
enjoyed working all three days in the
AMA store, selling AMA products and
visiting with AMA members and the staff.
Linda Rice helped out at the AMA supply
and service booth.
I want to mention that if you have a
chance you should plan to attend the
convention in the future. I visited with at
least a dozen District VIII members while I
was there.
I attended my first Executive Council
meeting on January 15 and was impressed
with the breadth of experience and
knowledge on the council.
During the meeting Dr. Sandy Frank
was presented the AMA Fellow award by
Dave Brown. Only 84 have been awarded
and both Sandy and his father are
recipients of this highest AMA honor.
Congrats again, Sandy!
The third weekend in January, I attended
the swap meet in Georgetown, Texas. The
weather was rainy and cold and the Pilot’s
Choice Hangar—home of the Devil Dog
B-25—was not well heated.
The Devil Dog B-25 sits in front of the
Pilot’s Choice hangar.
Despite that, attendance was good and
everyone had a good time. It seemed as
though most were leaving with more than
they brought. (I guess not everyone could
do that or we would run out of items
before everyone left.)
Because of the weather, the most
popular booth was the concession
stand/coffee service which was ably tended
by Katlynn and Faith (above) as they
earned money for their soccer team.
As I mentioned last month volunteers
make things run. Below is Lonnie Beard
staffing the raffle table, trying to make the
swap meet a money maker for the club. He
was cheerful and sold a lot of tickets.
(Hey, I bought some but he never called!)
Lonnie Beard staffed the raffle table.
I hope they came out ahead on that;
sometimes weather turns fund raisers into
losing propositions.
I also visited the West Side Club flying
field in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was
cold and windy and no one was braving the
conditions.
It looks like a very nice facility except
for the pesky gophers that decorated the
runway with holes. Maybe next time I go
up there we can fly some.
Have fun and be safe! See you on the
flightline. Jim Rice.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/04
Page Numbers: 174
