148 MODEL AVIATION
HI FOLKS and Merry Christmas! I
certainly hope you have been good this year
and Santa has placed some cool RC stuff
under the tree for you.
I want to catch you up on some activities
which have kept me busy this summer.
Kansas City, Missouri, was privileged to
host the SkillsUSA National Leadership and
Skills Conference (NLSC) where 14,000
youth competed in various vocational events
ranging from heating and air conditioning to
developing Web sites. With businesses,
unions, and industry associations
participating, SkillsUSA facilitates an
opportunity for youth who concentrate on
vocational trades to demonstrate their talents
and make contacts for potential
employment.
Nearly every hotel room in the Kansas
City area was booked by this event which
encompassed every square foot of
convention floor space. As luck would have
it, AMA’s Joyce Hager’s brother is a
volunteer/judge at the computer venue and
told Joyce she could have the spare floor
space for an AMA booth.
We jumped at the chance and Joyce
drove to Kansas City and we set up our
table-top booth for the youth. Good flying
buddy, Darrell Watts, helped us by staffing
the flight simulator. I flew indoor
helicopters and Joyce handed out AMA
literature for two days, doing what I like to
call “planting the seed.”
Joyce Hager and her brother, Wayne
Hawley, at the SkillsUSA conference.
Darrell Watts helping one of the SkillsUSA
youth on the simulator.
Some of the entertainment at the SkillsUSA
event.
With thousands of participants and
spectators, activities went on throughout the
day which even included some motorcycle
jumping out on the street!
Plans are underway to make another
presence at the event next year. Those kids
sure liked seeing and talking about model
airplanes!
The Sodbusters Jumbo Fly-in was held in
Wichita, Kansas. My good flying buddy
Walt DeFrees and I attended the fly-in this
past July. I have attended this event in
previous years and always came away from
the weekend with fond memories of great
times with modelers from the area.
This year was special. I had the honor of
recognizing the numerous contributions that
Jerry Shumaker has made to the modeling
community. Unfortunately, Jerry and his
close friend John Newman were in a traffic
accident and Jerry was hospitalized. I
presented the award in his honor at the close
of the event.
I’m pleased that both John and Jerry are
well now and below is a picture of John
making the presentation to Jerry a month or
so after the event.
Jerry Shumaker received an AMA award
from John Newman in recognition of his
many services to AMA.
Executive Vice President
Mark Smith; [email protected]
Mark Smith
Executive Vice
President
14632 W. 50th St.,
Shawnee KS 66216
Tel.: (913) 568-4347
Walter DeFrees
December 29, 1929-August 12, 2009
The modeling community lost an avid and extremely talented member, Walt DeFrees,
shortly after the Wichita fly-in. Walt
was a close, personal friend who is
survived by his bride of 56 years,
Virginia, two children, and four
grandchildren. Some of you may have
met Walt and Virginia at the AMA
flying field in Muncie, Indiana because
they were hosts in 2008.
Walt, you’re at rest now, hopefully
flying model airplanes with no wind
and no trees in sight! Your memory
will be with us forever.
12amanews_11amanews.qxd 10/19/2009 11:47 AM Page 148
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/12
Page Numbers: 148
