August 2011 - Newsletter

Greater St. Louis Ninety-Nines
Newsletter
August 2011
August meeting: 11 am Saturday, 13 August

Business meeting at the Wings of Hope Hangar at Spirit of St. Louis Airport with lunch to follow at a restaurant in the Chesterfield Valley (Red Lobster????)
Please bring your ideas for programs for the 2011-2012 year.

Chapter and Member News:
Our September meeting will be our annual Chapter Birthday Party on Saturday, 17 September at Jean Murry’s home. This is often a pot luck luncheon. If you have Ninety Nine logo-ed items like jewelry, clothing or bags that you no longer use or need, please bring them to the Party – we hope to auction, sell, or raffle the items to benefit the Del Scharr Memorial Scholarship Fund.

July was a busy month for the Ninety Nines. Delia Greer, Jean Murry, and Jan Pocock attended the Ninety Nines International Conference in Oklahoma City 14-16 July. They arrived on Thursday in time for the final tour of the renovated Ninety Nines headquarters and museum. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a whirlwind tour since the building closed 15 min after they arrived! The business meeting was mercifully brief with little controversy. The steak served at the banquet was excellent. There appeared to be fewer European members present than in previous years. OK City, like the rest of the Midwest, was hot, hot, hot! Jan toured the Cowboy Museum, bought a cowboy hat, then left it in the hotel lobby when they all returned home on Sunday. Fortunately the hat was still at the hotel Sunday evening, and they shipped it back to her. She promises to wear it to the August meeting.

On 28 July, there was a memorial service at the Masonic Cemetery in Nashville, IL for Mary Hagner Guthrie, WASP 44-4. Kate Garrison and Vivian Waters from the Greater St. Louis Ninety Nines, and Eve Cascella, LaVonne Deck, and Sarah Washington from the Women with Wings Chapter of the Women in Aviation attended the ceremony. Mary Guthrie died in 1981, but did not receive the military funeral, to which she was entitled, at her burial. Although only three or four family members and friends, a handful of local veterans and the five women pilots were in attendance, the ceremony was quite moving. There was an Air Force Honor Guard in attendance, complete with flag ceremony, rifle volleys, and taps played on a solitary bugle. Mary’s son Bruce Guthrie was presented the American flag. Kate Garrison read the poem Celestial Flight, that has become a tradition at WASP funerals. I have appended a page of photos from the ceremony to the newsletter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkJzMEHgJc0 is a link to a very moving video featuring the poem Celestial Flight, and http://thesouthern.com/news/local/article_115aeb24-b998-11e0-b342-001cc4c002e0.html is a link to the newspaper article about the memorial service.

Anne Mongiovi and Libby Yunger attended EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh WI, but we missed seeing each other in all the hustle and bustle. At AirVenture the Women in Aviation were
celebrating 100 years of American women in aviation. Although other American women had flown prior to 1911, the first American woman to receive a pilot license was Harriet Quimby on 1 August 1911. Watch the interview with WAI head Peggy Chabrian at http://www.aopa.org/oshkosh/2011/news/110729womenventure-creates-sea-of-green.html?WT.mc_id=110805epilot&WT.mc_sect=gan

Patrice Mullins has returned to her maiden name, Patrice Billings. According to her web site (http://www.patricebillings.com/about.asp) she is currently working on a novel inspired by her work as a police officer, helicopter pilot and sniper/precision marksman. The best news of all is that she has returned to the Ninety Nines. Her e-mail address remains mooncopter@gmail.com and her phone number is 636-398-6705.

Ninety Nines News:
Jan Pocock has information about and an application blank for a new $1000 scholarship that is being offered annually by the Chicago Area Ninety Nines. The deadline for application this year is 1 September. Further information can be obtained directly from Jan Pocock at 636-394-5734 of you can write to her at 224 New Ballwin Rd, Ballwin, MO 63021. Jan does not have e-mail.

Job Opportunities:
Cathy Babis informed us that the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (that used to be the mapping agency) of the Dept. of Defense in St. Louis has an opening for a GEOINT Analyst (Aero Intel). This is a permanent position. Additional information can be found at http://jobview.usajobs.gov/getjob.aspx?JobID=101283525&aid=102267879-5811&WT.mc_n=125 . The application period runs from 1 August 2011 through 12 August 2011. Cathy works at the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and may be able to give you further information. Her e-mail address is flyngrl@gmail.com

Aviation Events:
There is an excellent, well-maintained web-based St. Louis Aviation calendar listing events scheduled in the Greater St. Louis area. This site also has links to the websites of the GSL Ninety Nines and other local aviation organizations. The site URL is http://stlaviationcalendar.com/default.aspx .

Zeppelin rides on the Airship Ventures airship Eureka will be available at Downtown Airport (KCPS) from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm Tuesday through Saturday, 16-20 August. For additional information see http://www.airshipventures.com/about.

The EAA Ford Trimotor will be at Downtown Airport (KCPS) for rides from 9:30 am to 5:30 from Thursday through Sunday, 22-25 September. This event is sponsored by EAA Chapter 64 that is headquartered at Downtown Airport. Information can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/fordtrimotoreventstlouis/home