Weekly Update for 8/23/09
This weekend marked yet another first for Fly Free Skydiving – we
FINALLY had AWESOME weather the entire weekend!!! We went 2 days, a
full 48 hours, without one single weather hold! WOO HOO!! After over a
dozen weekends straight cut short by mother nature we were ready to rock
when the planets all aligned and the weather perfect for skydiving!
Saturday started off bright and early with a big group of tandems ready
to take on the sky. The group filled the parking lot and headed down to
the hanger with lawn chairs, cameras and coolers in tow. It didn’t take
them long to get settled in and start calling the DZ home and we can’t
wait to have this group back out with us!
With a heavy load we decided to give Mark a break and called in our good
friend Rookie to come share in the fun! With Rookie on tandem duty I
quickly got booted from my video slot so that Mark could make his way
back into the saddle. I think I can officially solicit for any tandem
masters looking for work – Mark misses his video slot – if you’re
looking to pitch some drogues head our way!
The Suburban Journal was also out to play Saturday and we enjoyed having
them with us! I’m pretty sure we’ve got Andrew, the photographer
extraordinaire, ready to concur the sky and Chris the reporter surly
isn’t far behind! If you haven’t seen the article yet be sure and check
it out!
http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2009/08/26/jefferson/special_feature/0826jef-skydive0.txt
As the day went on the excitement did not fade but the energy of our
overworked “jack of all trades” Mike Toombs and our visiting TI Rookie
sure was getting stretched thin! We couldn’t have made the day without
your help guys, you have no idea how much Mark and I appreciate your
constant help and commitment! I know you made my day and judging by the
smiles I’ve seen on Mark’s face while looking though pictures from the
day I know it meant just as much to him! It also, I’m sure of it, meant
a ton to our wonderful first time jumpers who took on the air over
Festus!
We had a special guest out to the DZ Saturday afternoon… John Wall
graced us with his presence and even better he came with fiancée Dana
and her handsome son Logan in tow! It felt so good to instantly expand
the family at the DZ and we really have our fingers crossed this
beautiful family is out to see us more often! We love you guys!
Mike Toombs was happy to demo two sweet PD canopies this weekend – a
very nice, bright Stiletto 135 and a manly looking Sabre 2 135. Last
tally I do believe our Mikey has decided the Stiletto is where it is at
but there is still plenty of air time left to test those bad boys out!
You rocked them both Mike, I hope when I grow up I can land with style
just like you do!
Sunday came bright and early and had us all slightly confused… Like I
said, this is the first weekend we had two days in a row of awesome
weather, so many of us did not know what to do with ourselves Sunday
morning when we had blue skies and no wind! I tell ya what, it’s a
beautiful thing!!!
We had a light load scheduled on Sunday which made way for some well
deserved fun jumps! Banks, Colleen and Scott graced us with their
bright, energetic appearance and Brian and Julie weren’t far behind! We
LOVE having our fun jumpers out to play and were so happy to share the
rides to altitude with you guys. Thank you for being such an important
and awesome part of our family!
Terrill made a guest pilot appearance on Sunday – how could he not – he
got to throw son Ian out of the plane! Something tells me that Terrill
has been waiting a while for this moment and to this day I’m not sure
who enjoyed it more!!!! Safe to say Ian loved his skydive and will be
back for more, no doubt about it that guy is hooked.
It just wouldn’t be Sunday without some AFF jumps!! Lutz and I were
flipping coins for slots on the plane and enjoying every minute of it!
Dana did a beautiful job on her Category B, woo hoo!!! A big congrats
to Matt who completed his first AFF jump as well, great job you two, you
make our job look easy!!!
A new jumper was added to our gaggle Sunday when the very quick falling
Marcus came out to jump! Marcus is a Doc in the ER at the hospital
located next door to the hospital which we often times use for a
spotting reference for jump run! Marcus made Mark’s day and did a sit
fly with Mark keeping up in a head down. We are looking forward to
getting to know you Marcus and hope to see you again this weekend!
Blake is quickly progressing and is well on his way to his A license!
Out to make some solo skydives it’s been hard not to baby him too much.
He’s doing a great job and is turning out to be an excellent skydiver!
Did I mention that Blake is a cop? What is that old saying about “when
pigs fly…”?! Couldn’t help it Blake! You rock man, keep up the good
work!
Another great weekend goes down in the history of Fly Free Skydiving and
yet at the same time another fabulous weekend is on our heels! We have
tandems Friday afternoon and through the weekend – the plane will be
flying high over Festus – don’t miss your chance to be on it!!
Until next weekend…
XOXO
Ashley
