AMA News District X - 2009/02

WITH GREAT ENTHUSIASM and
fanfare, 35-plus members and guests
gathered at Del Norte County’s McBeth
Field for the Redwood Empire Modelers
Association’s (REMA), ninth annual Fun-
Fly and the club’s 30th anniversary
celebration. Guests traveled from as far as
Eugene, Medford, and Grants Pass, Oregon,
to the north, and as far as Chico, Redding,
and Fort Bragg, California.
The three-day celebration started on
Friday, August 8, with a pilots’ meeting and
safety briefing with the club’s CD and
secretary/treasurer, Russ Cupp. The field
was opened to flying all day and the club
hosted a tri-tip barbecue and potluck dinner.
On Saturday, flying began at 9 a.m. and
continued until the club’s vice president, Jim
Sharp and his bride Pat, called everyone for
lunch. Members and guests sat down to
grilled hamburgers and hotdogs with all the
fixings. After lunch, there was a brief
introduction of three of the founding
members: Howard McFarland, Ozzie
Tiefenbach, and Terry Gehrman. They were
all thanked for their service by the club
current president, Dan Owen, and presented
with club T-shirts procured by Mike Brown,
AMA District X associate vice president.
Later that afternoon, the club had its
much-anticipated annual raffle. There were
many kits and accessories, some of which
were generously donated by hobby shops
and mail-order businesses.
There was also a ladies’ raffle with
prizes geared toward the women’s tastes
with proceeds donated to the club. Thank
you, ladies! At the close of the day, 25
members and guests ended the evening with
dinner at the Steelhead Lodge.
On Sunday, open flying continued until
mid morning, when Russ Cupp collected
secret ballets and passed out the pilots’
choice awards to the winners. Other
members and guests helped pack the
REMA’s flying tables, benches, awnings,
and other equipment.
We were fortunate to have received a
visit from Jim Giffin, AMA vice president in
District X, who traveled all the way from
Redding to participate in our event. The
weather was great for flying all three days.
The attending pilots had the opportunity
to fly as much as they wanted, and all did.
Every year the trees and berry bushes claim
at least one model. This year the victim was
Ed “Doc” Martin’s Sumbichi Zero that he’d
enjoyed flying for four years. His airplane
was not found, but the search was not a total
loss. Ed found Jim Sharp’s Cessna lost five
years earlier. After sitting out in the weather
all that time the model was a total loss, but
Ed retrieved the O.S. .40 and returned it to
Jim.
We must thank Stan Bellatti, our safety
officer, and all club members and their
wives, mothers, daughters, and girlfriends
for their hard work, support, and extra
efforts in planning and preparing for these
events. Without them, we couldn’t have
pulled it off!
—Dan Owen, REMA president