MEETING RECAP
Airplanes and Flying are Cool!
Sunday, September 12, 2021
By: Paula T. OlsonTHE LAKEWOOD KEY
Airplanes and Flying are Cool!
President Jim timely rang the bell and opened the meeting on Friday. Bob Hammar gave a very nice invocation and Prez Jim led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. President Jim then made an announcement: “For 40 years I’ve been chained to a beeper or cell phone and I’m leading the revolt! Turn off your cell phones. You can spend one hour without checking or answering your phones.” (Or something like that.) Anyway, then he said this: “Lawyers always do!” (meaning that lawyers don’t answer their phones. That is so wrong, Mr. President Sir, with all due respect). But what our President is trying to say is, silence your phones during meetings. Please.
As we went forward with the meeting, we were having some tech issues with spots of silence so ye ole bulletin writer will fill in with some humor. (Is this yet another sign he doesn’t intend to step down in June?)
A happily married man had only one complaint: his wife was always nursing sick birds. One cold evening, he came home to find a raven with a splint on its beak sitting in his favorite chair. On the dining room table there was a feverish eagle pecking at an aspirin while in the kitchen his wife was comforting a shivering little wren that she found. The furious spouse strode over to where his wife was toweling down the cold little bird. "I can't take it anymore! We've got to get rid of these darn..." The wife held up her hand to cut him off in mid-curse. "Please dear," she said, "not in front of the chilled wren."
. . . Chuck Hellar was the Sergeant at Arms and Steve Enquist staffed the Foundation Desk. Puffins in attendance included Carl Bronkema, James Osundwa, Wendy McGowan and Connie Coleman-Lacadie. Then Pres. Jim had Carl and James come up where he presented each of them with their very own Puffin.
Above: Carl gets his puffin. At least it is not a chilled wren.
Jim charged them both with the awesome and awful responsibility of dressing, feeding, bathing, reading bedtime stories, and bringing them to every meeting. At the appropriate time, they will pass their Puffins on to the next newbies. Both Carl and James seemed to appreciate the honor bestowed upon them.
Steve Enquist gave a Foundation report. He said that we are going to start passing out the Paul Harris awards again now that we are in person, if those recipients are present. There are a lot of them from during COVID time and Steve will pass them out a couple at a time at every meeting. He reminded us of the mission of the Foundation and read the Mission Statement. He reviewed how the Gates Foundation matches every dollar for Polio Plus donations and the various projects funded by the Foundation. Steve talked about how it was Mike McGowan that started having the Foundation desk at meetings to allow members to donate weekly instead of cutting one check a year. You can check your balances every meeting to see where you are with your minimum donation of $100 a year.
There was no Sunshine report and President Jim said we still need a new chair. Jim said he missed seeing us in person and noted that yours truly was on Zoom and asked for a trial report. Ending week two, says Paula Olson, six more to go, more or less.
And now a period of silence. So a five dollar bill walks into a bar, and the bartender says, “Hey. This is a singles bar.” (hahahaha)
. . . No guests were present although Mary Horn reintroduced Bob Martin, a soon-to-be Puffin. Welcome Bob.
And now the fine portion of the meeting. Peter Marsh described an odd phenomenon: On the front page of the TNT, there was an article about all the hospitals in northern Idaho being filled up with (unvaccinated) COVID patients and then an article on the same page about a Gig Harbor group discussing how and why to get out of getting the vaccine. Hhmmm. I think Peter is trying to tell us something.
Back to fines. Jim says that we’re doing good on fines so keep it up. Scott Buser announced that at this very moment, his first grandchild was making his/her way into the world. He kicked in $100 to celebrate. Wendy McGowan had a great announcement that was silenced but there was a lot of clapping and she donated $100. (You had to be there to hear it, Paula. She said her daughter’s research on genetics was published in the New York Times.-Ed.)
President Jim asked everyone if they could guess why he was dressed the way he was. Since those of us on Zoom couldn’t’ see below his belt, we had no clue. He was wearing cargo shorts and a polo shirt as was the introducer of the program, Bill Potter. Turns out the guys wanted to make our guest speaker feel comfortable especially since Eric Quinn was wearing a tie, which is enough to freak anyone out.
The Program:
Above: Ben Sclair, aviator
Bill introduced Ben Sclair, a former President of our illustrious club in 2011-12, following his mom, Mary Lou Sclair who was our President in 2004-05. Welcome back, Ben!
Ben gave a great presentation on his love of airplanes and flying. He’s been flying in one form or another and in private planes since he was two weeks old. He warned us: he’s not objective when it comes to flying. He’s passionate! He reminded us that planes and flying affect us in so many ways, such as deliveries from FedEx and Amazon. Since today was the day before the 20th anniversary of 9/11, he told a story about his sister who was a pilot for FedEx. She was in the air when the attack happened. When she touched down in the Phillipines, she was met by an armed jeep and guns who kept her seated until she could be cleared.
Above: Ben’s sister
Ben had a slide show to go with his presentation, courtesy of his wife’s sorting through lots of pictures for the perfect ones. Ben said there have been about 12 planes in his family’s history. He showed a picture of him at about 12 years old with a covered wagon tent next to a plane. He said that the family would take off on weekends and fly to a show and then camp and fly to another show and come home on Sunday night. Don’t know why but he said he hated the tent.
Ben’s grandparents came from Russia and settled in Bangor, Maine, opening a tailor shop. In the back of the shop,grandpa sublet a little apartment to WWI vets who had been pilots. They used surplus planes to fly as bootleggers between Canada and the US. His granddad was surprised he didn’t get deported. But that started the family’s love of planes and flying.
The orange jumpsuit seen in many pictures was a calling card of the family. One picture showed The Great Pumpkin, an orange Piper Comanche. Ben’s dad learned to fly by trading flight lessons. He bought the Northwest Flyer a week before Ben was born and then they moved from Oklahoma to Spanaway, Washington. They settled on some acreage called the Shady Acres and his dad built a hanger before he built a house. They lived in a double wide trailer for many years. In 1975, they bought the Suburban Times. His dad was the writer and salesperson while his mom was the office manager. The office was in the home so very convenient for the family.
Above: Ben’s Dad and Mom
Ben showed a picture of Bob Hoover, a very famous test pilot and flyer of the P-51 Mustang – a fighter plane of WWII. His dad flew all over the country hawking his papers. Ben showed pictures of his sister, Robin, who was a very accomplished pilot. At the time she was a pilot for FedEx, about 5% of pilots were women. Now it’s just 6 – 7% women although women make much better instructors. Robin was hired to fly a candidate for governor all over the state during the campaign. She flew the big airplanes for FedEx.
Ben talked a bit about the ultralight planes that have wings, an engine and a seat. They are capable of flying from coast to coast. When Ben was 12 years old, he built an ultralight plane with his dad. A photographer from National Geographic came and took pictures by putting his camera on the wing of the plane. Ben was about 13-14 years old at the time. When Ben celebrated his 16th birthday, he did his first solo flight. He liked to take his high school friends on plane rides and a friend’s Mom commented that the crazy kid he was on the ground was totally different in the air. Ben shared a family picture of his wife and children. He told the story about how fast his wife could buckle the kids up in the plane if it coughed or did anything slightly unusual.
Ben showed a picture of Fat Albert, a C130 support plane for the Blue Angels. Ben got to ride in that plane which was exciting. He got a seat before an obnoxious reporter. He showed a video of the plane landing that had over a million views on Facebook.
Above: Reno airshow
In Reno, every second week of September there is a big air show with air races all weekend. He went a lot as a kid with his family. In 2011 there was a bad accident where a plane fell and hit people in the audience, killing 10 – 12 people. He showed a Stearman 450 with an open cockpit. Ben talked about all the cool stuff that is part of aviation. It is possible to operate a plane with a driver’s license. A 19 year old woman is trying to be the youngest woman to fly around the world. Check out her website at FlyZolo.com. Ben showed a video of a Reno flyby in 2013 as a part of air racing. He talked about the Oshkosh 2019 air show, the old and new flybys and showed cool airplace pictures. He showed a picture of the “Able Flight” which is a group of disabled but certified pilots. Ben said that Airbus is the number one selling aircraft manufacturer, with technology to make it impossible to get lost.
Above: Cool airplanes
Ben showed a picture of a home-built airplane with an Ipad and a Sharpie pen. A single seat helicopter goes for less than $100,00. He talked about the refurbishing of a lodge up in the mountains that had a Minan Airlift haul materials in and out. He showed a picture of the Oshkosh air show this year showing the huge area of the show and the number of people and planes there.
In appreciation of his opportunity to share his story and brag about his family, Ben donated a total of $400 according to Treasurer John Lowney. Thanks so much, Ben, and thanks for a great presentation.
Mary Marlin got a $5 ultralight bill for winning the drawing!
A happily married man had only one complaint: his wife was always nursing sick birds. One cold evening, he came home to find a raven with a splint on its beak sitting in his favorite chair. On the dining room table there was a feverish eagle pecking at an aspirin while in the kitchen his wife was comforting a shivering little wren that she found. The furious spouse strode over to where his wife was toweling down the cold little bird. "I can't take it anymore! We've got to get rid of these darn..." The wife held up her hand to cut him off in mid-curse. "Please dear," she said, "not in front of the chilled wren."
. . . Chuck Hellar was the Sergeant at Arms and Steve Enquist staffed the Foundation Desk. Puffins in attendance included Carl Bronkema, James Osundwa, Wendy McGowan and Connie Coleman-Lacadie. Then Pres. Jim had Carl and James come up where he presented each of them with their very own Puffin.
Above: Carl gets his puffin. At least it is not a chilled wren.
Jim charged them both with the awesome and awful responsibility of dressing, feeding, bathing, reading bedtime stories, and bringing them to every meeting. At the appropriate time, they will pass their Puffins on to the next newbies. Both Carl and James seemed to appreciate the honor bestowed upon them.
Steve Enquist gave a Foundation report. He said that we are going to start passing out the Paul Harris awards again now that we are in person, if those recipients are present. There are a lot of them from during COVID time and Steve will pass them out a couple at a time at every meeting. He reminded us of the mission of the Foundation and read the Mission Statement. He reviewed how the Gates Foundation matches every dollar for Polio Plus donations and the various projects funded by the Foundation. Steve talked about how it was Mike McGowan that started having the Foundation desk at meetings to allow members to donate weekly instead of cutting one check a year. You can check your balances every meeting to see where you are with your minimum donation of $100 a year.
There was no Sunshine report and President Jim said we still need a new chair. Jim said he missed seeing us in person and noted that yours truly was on Zoom and asked for a trial report. Ending week two, says Paula Olson, six more to go, more or less.
And now a period of silence. So a five dollar bill walks into a bar, and the bartender says, “Hey. This is a singles bar.” (hahahaha)
. . . No guests were present although Mary Horn reintroduced Bob Martin, a soon-to-be Puffin. Welcome Bob.
And now the fine portion of the meeting. Peter Marsh described an odd phenomenon: On the front page of the TNT, there was an article about all the hospitals in northern Idaho being filled up with (unvaccinated) COVID patients and then an article on the same page about a Gig Harbor group discussing how and why to get out of getting the vaccine. Hhmmm. I think Peter is trying to tell us something.
Back to fines. Jim says that we’re doing good on fines so keep it up. Scott Buser announced that at this very moment, his first grandchild was making his/her way into the world. He kicked in $100 to celebrate. Wendy McGowan had a great announcement that was silenced but there was a lot of clapping and she donated $100. (You had to be there to hear it, Paula. She said her daughter’s research on genetics was published in the New York Times.-Ed.)
President Jim asked everyone if they could guess why he was dressed the way he was. Since those of us on Zoom couldn’t’ see below his belt, we had no clue. He was wearing cargo shorts and a polo shirt as was the introducer of the program, Bill Potter. Turns out the guys wanted to make our guest speaker feel comfortable especially since Eric Quinn was wearing a tie, which is enough to freak anyone out.
The Program:
Above: Ben Sclair, aviator
Bill introduced Ben Sclair, a former President of our illustrious club in 2011-12, following his mom, Mary Lou Sclair who was our President in 2004-05. Welcome back, Ben!
Ben gave a great presentation on his love of airplanes and flying. He’s been flying in one form or another and in private planes since he was two weeks old. He warned us: he’s not objective when it comes to flying. He’s passionate! He reminded us that planes and flying affect us in so many ways, such as deliveries from FedEx and Amazon. Since today was the day before the 20th anniversary of 9/11, he told a story about his sister who was a pilot for FedEx. She was in the air when the attack happened. When she touched down in the Phillipines, she was met by an armed jeep and guns who kept her seated until she could be cleared.
Above: Ben’s sister
Ben had a slide show to go with his presentation, courtesy of his wife’s sorting through lots of pictures for the perfect ones. Ben said there have been about 12 planes in his family’s history. He showed a picture of him at about 12 years old with a covered wagon tent next to a plane. He said that the family would take off on weekends and fly to a show and then camp and fly to another show and come home on Sunday night. Don’t know why but he said he hated the tent.
Ben’s grandparents came from Russia and settled in Bangor, Maine, opening a tailor shop. In the back of the shop,grandpa sublet a little apartment to WWI vets who had been pilots. They used surplus planes to fly as bootleggers between Canada and the US. His granddad was surprised he didn’t get deported. But that started the family’s love of planes and flying.
The orange jumpsuit seen in many pictures was a calling card of the family. One picture showed The Great Pumpkin, an orange Piper Comanche. Ben’s dad learned to fly by trading flight lessons. He bought the Northwest Flyer a week before Ben was born and then they moved from Oklahoma to Spanaway, Washington. They settled on some acreage called the Shady Acres and his dad built a hanger before he built a house. They lived in a double wide trailer for many years. In 1975, they bought the Suburban Times. His dad was the writer and salesperson while his mom was the office manager. The office was in the home so very convenient for the family.
Above: Ben’s Dad and Mom
Ben showed a picture of Bob Hoover, a very famous test pilot and flyer of the P-51 Mustang – a fighter plane of WWII. His dad flew all over the country hawking his papers. Ben showed pictures of his sister, Robin, who was a very accomplished pilot. At the time she was a pilot for FedEx, about 5% of pilots were women. Now it’s just 6 – 7% women although women make much better instructors. Robin was hired to fly a candidate for governor all over the state during the campaign. She flew the big airplanes for FedEx.
Ben talked a bit about the ultralight planes that have wings, an engine and a seat. They are capable of flying from coast to coast. When Ben was 12 years old, he built an ultralight plane with his dad. A photographer from National Geographic came and took pictures by putting his camera on the wing of the plane. Ben was about 13-14 years old at the time. When Ben celebrated his 16th birthday, he did his first solo flight. He liked to take his high school friends on plane rides and a friend’s Mom commented that the crazy kid he was on the ground was totally different in the air. Ben shared a family picture of his wife and children. He told the story about how fast his wife could buckle the kids up in the plane if it coughed or did anything slightly unusual.
Ben showed a picture of Fat Albert, a C130 support plane for the Blue Angels. Ben got to ride in that plane which was exciting. He got a seat before an obnoxious reporter. He showed a video of the plane landing that had over a million views on Facebook.
Above: Reno airshow
In Reno, every second week of September there is a big air show with air races all weekend. He went a lot as a kid with his family. In 2011 there was a bad accident where a plane fell and hit people in the audience, killing 10 – 12 people. He showed a Stearman 450 with an open cockpit. Ben talked about all the cool stuff that is part of aviation. It is possible to operate a plane with a driver’s license. A 19 year old woman is trying to be the youngest woman to fly around the world. Check out her website at FlyZolo.com. Ben showed a video of a Reno flyby in 2013 as a part of air racing. He talked about the Oshkosh 2019 air show, the old and new flybys and showed cool airplace pictures. He showed a picture of the “Able Flight” which is a group of disabled but certified pilots. Ben said that Airbus is the number one selling aircraft manufacturer, with technology to make it impossible to get lost.
Above: Cool airplanes
Ben showed a picture of a home-built airplane with an Ipad and a Sharpie pen. A single seat helicopter goes for less than $100,00. He talked about the refurbishing of a lodge up in the mountains that had a Minan Airlift haul materials in and out. He showed a picture of the Oshkosh air show this year showing the huge area of the show and the number of people and planes there.
In appreciation of his opportunity to share his story and brag about his family, Ben donated a total of $400 according to Treasurer John Lowney. Thanks so much, Ben, and thanks for a great presentation.
Mary Marlin got a $5 ultralight bill for winning the drawing!
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