The winter that will never end. 

It has been two weeks since my last update and it has been jam-packed!  It started off with Dave and 30EA heading down to Skydive Spaceland for BJ Worth’s 100-way diamond attempts.

                    Photo by California Dave

I went down to North Carolina for another tunnel camp.  Mandrin only has one more camp until we start jumping!  Remember that when we are training the weekday loads are happening.  In fact 15-20 per day!  Use those sick days for some airtime.

Saturday, the 19th, the Mad City skydiving club from Wisconsin joined us.  76 kids came down for the leapfest event.  All the kids were able to jump even though we did have some weather holds.  A band came down called ‘Depending on the Weather’, no pun intended, and jammed into the night while the kids enjoyed a BBQ under the pavilion.   Thanks to Kiley for heading up the club this year, keep up the great work!!   We are looking forward to the fall leapfest. 

I met with the WDSRA fundraising committee.  They are planning one great event for an even better cause.  Over 30 people have started raising money to help build a gym for persons with special needs.  They have planned lots of press to be here to capture the event.  I’m looking forward to seeing the event take place. 

Friday the 2nd grade class visited us from Grand Ridge.  This is the second year for the field trip.  The group was as fun and energetic as last years group.  I don’t ever remember field trips that were fun.  I always went to some park to study weeds?  Thanks to the second graders for the visit. 

We continued to have our college month this past Saturday with Illinois Institute of Technology.  The group was headed up by Michael Morley, who organized 80 students to come down.  SDC looked like a tech center for Microsoft with all the students.  Thanks to Michael for taking charge and organizing the group. 

SDC’s On the Fly 4-way team also started training this weekend.  I wish you luck and hope you compete well. 

In efforts to help reduce our waste Genie’s Café is going green.  Starting May 1st all cups, food bowls, and silverware will be produced from corn.  You won’t notice any difference, however, our landfills will!! 

Local jumpers Nicole and Allen helped host a recycling fundraiser this weekend.  They brought in a Mexican feast!!  All of the proceeds are going towards purchasing recycling bins.  Throughout the fun filled night they were able to raise $429!  We are going to start with glass and plastic bins located throughout the DZ.  So next time you are sipping from a glass container take a second and toss it in the appropriate bin.  SDC and Mother Earth thanks you.

Thanks to Jerry Baker who headed down to Archway skydiving center in Vandalia, IL.  Jerry bought them the 182 to help handle their workload.  Jerry broke his personal record by flying 15 loads in the 182 in a day!!

We have been really busy with requests for aircraft, which is a great sign that things are not slowing down due to the economy.  With the exception of Memorial Day we have contracts every weekend in May.  May 9-11 the otter will be at Skydive Iowa and then off to Archway the 16-18, then back over to Michigan.  We will have both Otters here starting June 2nd.      

We have added ‘All Inclusive Packages’ to the options at SDC.  Geared more towards first timers they package everything together for a great experience.  We have gotten a great response on them and look forward to adding the cabins to the packages.   Check them out at www.skydivechicago.com/Services/AllInclusivePackages/tabid/181/Default.aspx. 

Speaking of Cabins, we have had our first reservation filled!  We are still waiting to get the power hooked up but that wouldn’t stop one couple.  They are booking up fast for events so if you are interested make your reservation soon.   We have 3 cabins that sleep up to 4 people each.

May 10th SDC and John Zagoda are hosting the Illinois CPC.  If you want to get your swoop on don’t miss out. 

Also in May is the Para-Concepts Riggers Course.   If you are interested in obtaining your rating it can be done all onsite!! Check out www.para-concepts.com for more info.

Ottawa gas prices are on average .05 -.15 cheaper then city prices. We have added a link to the home page www.chicagogasprices.com to help you find the cheapest gas for the commute.  Our forum is a great place to meet people and carpool.  Not only does that save gas/money but also makes a smaller carbon footprint.

I want to thank the Bachman family for inviting me to the life celebration for Lowell Bachman.  It was a great event and I’m sure that he would have been proud.  Any donations can be made to the Skydiving Museum Fund. 

Thanks to everyone for the fun filled two weeks.  I can’t wait until it stops snowing!!


Rook