Great weather, Team training, Meet #4 MWSL, and 450+ tandem reservations was the setting for another great week at SDC.
The week started off never ending from the weekend, with over 60 tandems on Tuesday alone! This certainly has been a great year for students and I’m becoming a huge fan of bad economy!!
Wednesday night the teams arrived for another training weekend. With the great facility we have they are able to stay in the main hanger, which makes the trips a little easier on the wallet. Thursday was a battle with the weather; however, we still were able to get in some jumps. Looking back on it this was our first weather day for training yet this year so we are pretty lucky. Friday was a hot and sticky day but the pond is a nice retreat to get a ‘layer’ off.
Friday night the Tiki bar was open and the MWSL league teams started showing up. With the comp in the morning many people turned in early.
Saturday morning proved that summer is not quite ready to leave yet with temps in the upper 80’s and about 400% humidity, typical Midwest summer. That didn’t seem to stop the action. Both Otters fired up and didn’t stop till some weather rolled in. We battled some weather but were never down for more then 30 minutes at a time. During all this David and his tandem team put up 130, Troy put 6 AFP students through class, the VRW teams cranked out 15 jumps each, Max and TJ had their groups going, and 6 MWSL teams completed 4 rounds. http://www.skyleague.com/pages/scores/index.php
Saturday night Genies Café cooked up her last meal and man was it a good one. If you haven’t heard Jeanie is retiring from the café to do a bit of traveling and relaxing. She achieved her 4000th wrap and said that’s enough! The bar was full as we raised our glasses and thanked her for four years of great food and memories. Don’t worry Nicole and Allen are going to keep the great tradition of awesome food alive on the DZ. I look forward to the new menu and ideas they will bring.
Northern winds cooled the temps down Sunday and made for one great day of jumping.
With the celebration things started a little slower but the VFS teams were in the air just before nine. Only a few more scheduled training camps prior to nationals, and the pressure is on to get the jumps in. David and his team cruised though 100+ tandems and the teams kept the plane flying till just before sunset.
The Blue Knights Motorcycle group made SDC a stop on their poker run Sunday. We had over 300 bikes stop in to have lunch. It sounded like thunder as the bikes drove down the road.
I want to remind everyone that although dogs are welcome here there are a few rules. They must be on a leash at all times and are not allowed in the hangar or in the swimming pond. Please keep in mind that cat owners out here would also like the freedom to have their pets roam outdoors.
We will have an Otter heading over to Richmond this weekend. If you are looking for a fun low key boogie check it out www.skydiverichmond.com
The DZ keeps getting better, local resident Russ Ellis is starting a Wakeboarding school at the DZ!! He offers introductory lessons and has all the equipment you need. His school set up shop next to the canoe landing by the river. For a complete break down and reservations please call him at 815-719-0944. This place rocks!!
Don’t think we are done yet, coming up:
Sept 4-7 team training
Sept 6 Fireworks Extravaganza (1/2 hour show synched to music)!
Sept 7 Swoop Club
Sept 11-14 Roger Ponce Invitationals
Thanks to everyone for a great weekend.
Rook |