2007 SSA Convention

1-26 CONVENTION...I mean SSA Convention Debrief, Memphis, Tenn SNOW IN MEMPHIS? I just returned from the SSA Convention in Memphis,Tenn. Ok it was snowing and the roads had ice all over them for a short time. That’s Ok though because the 1-26s had Bill Vickland and Bob Hurni as the advanced party arriving on Wednesday, setting up the glider and the booth and staking out the places to eat and re-hydrate. I arrived on Thursday afternoon having flown out with Ralph Kolstad. The booth looked great and Bill’s work updating and restoring all the poster boards added a real touch of class to our display. Merchandise had set up a relay to have one of their club members drop off a nice shipment of t-shirts and other items for the booth. The static display glider was awesome and in fact was so awesome it was sold to a new owner within the first hour of the convention. Bob briefed us on the dinner plans that night which were to go to Huey’s where we had some Bass (not the fish) and some great burgers. Kolstad order a chicken cobb salad with the chicken removed. He does yoga also. We had a good time. JO GOES NUTS...I mean brings pecans Breakfast at the Blue Plate Cafe, another Hurni find, was great. These guys can put away some major chow. Breakfast was Vickland, Hurni, Kolstad, Craig Loomiller, and I. The booth started up again and Jo Shaw showed up with a big box of pecans. She had shelled, bagged and labeled them and they were selling like, well pecans. I got two bags and they really are good. Jo was in her red flight suit adorned with her three diamonds. The red flight suit is a tribute to Marion Cruce. JO IS SPEECHLESS....really! The 1-26 lunch was great. We had about 30 guests including Lisa Sergent your Sec/Treas of the Association. I did a short monologue discussing Tammie Anderson’s research of 1-26 history in the Memphis area followed by Hank Claybourne. Hank provided us with a wonderful speech regarding 1-26 history telling us stories about most of the guys that the awards are named after. The H Marshall Claybourne trophy was awarded to Jo Shaw for her straight out flight distance of 343.27 miles this past summer. She walked to the podium and declared that she was speechless, however she recovered quickly. Jo made some fine statements regarding the 1-26 and its history and our legacy. Jo was followed by Ron Schwartz who was the speaker for the lunch. Ron’s topic was Ridge Running and it was truely a captivating story of how the Blairestown guys run these incredible flights up and down the ridges. He spoke for nearly an hour with 130 slides and I really found it to be an inspiring lesson. Thanks for the work Ron. Near the end Bill Schweizer came to the podium and thanked us for the continued efforts in keeping the 1-26 flying. MILLER BUGS OUT EARLY.... I had to leave Friday afternoon. The gang was planning on attending a movie about WWII gliders Friday night and I am sure I will miss the fun on Saturday. TEAM ANDERSON SUPERMODELS Kevin and Tammie were modeling the shirts for Chilhowee at the convention. These shirts are really nice and will be a collector’s items for anyone that flies a 1-26. If you would like one go to the web site and hit the Championship button and you can order one in advance. Cash or Check in advance also please. That’s my debrief...I hope we see you all in Chilhowee this Spring Norm Miller, President

Photos taken by Daniel L. Johnson

Photos taken by Jo Shaw

Photos taken by Beverly Beckwith