I ran this post concept by Doug first and he said "absolutely" it would be OK to post.
The gathering on the mountain was fantastic but had one giant snag this year, about 36 hours of not a soul being able to land at Petit Jean due to low ceilings and poor visibility. Fortunately, everyone stayed safe, whether it be at alternate airports or by staying home. Nicely done everyone!
However, all the shenanigans put the EAA group hosting the event in the hole by about a couple grand. Actually, I'm amazed the loss wasn't a whole lot larger considering a little more than half of the planned attendees arrived. That was due to generous folks paying the full-weekend registration fee even if they only made it in Saturday afternoon, others adding random amounts to their registration fee, people buying more raffle tickets than they would have otherwise, and other creative ways to help contribute to the kitty. To these folks, THANK YOU MUCH!
Many others have expressed interest in trying to help offset the deficit. If you want to chip in, anything you might care to part with would be appreciated by EAA 165, the volunteers who work their tails off, and those that have gotten to enjoy the event or will in the future. Bill has already said this isn't going to stop Petit Jean 2017, but I think we should give them all the reasons to not pause a single moment in continuing to put in the exceptional effort that they do every year even while knowing Mother Nature may choose to not cooperate and throw them deep into the red.
For those so inclined, checks should be made payable to EAA 165 and mailed to:
Bill Schlatterer
43 Masters Place Drive
Maumelle, AR. 72113
Thanks for being a part of this fantastic group of aviators and friends.
The gathering on the mountain was fantastic but had one giant snag this year, about 36 hours of not a soul being able to land at Petit Jean due to low ceilings and poor visibility. Fortunately, everyone stayed safe, whether it be at alternate airports or by staying home. Nicely done everyone!
However, all the shenanigans put the EAA group hosting the event in the hole by about a couple grand. Actually, I'm amazed the loss wasn't a whole lot larger considering a little more than half of the planned attendees arrived. That was due to generous folks paying the full-weekend registration fee even if they only made it in Saturday afternoon, others adding random amounts to their registration fee, people buying more raffle tickets than they would have otherwise, and other creative ways to help contribute to the kitty. To these folks, THANK YOU MUCH!
Many others have expressed interest in trying to help offset the deficit. If you want to chip in, anything you might care to part with would be appreciated by EAA 165, the volunteers who work their tails off, and those that have gotten to enjoy the event or will in the future. Bill has already said this isn't going to stop Petit Jean 2017, but I think we should give them all the reasons to not pause a single moment in continuing to put in the exceptional effort that they do every year even while knowing Mother Nature may choose to not cooperate and throw them deep into the red.
For those so inclined, checks should be made payable to EAA 165 and mailed to:
Bill Schlatterer
43 Masters Place Drive
Maumelle, AR. 72113
Thanks for being a part of this fantastic group of aviators and friends.