Annual club meeting

[mcelrah]

I know we've all been in shock, but we should still meet. If all the dates before the holidays are clobbered, then after. I have talked to Betty Hoffman (nee Pfeiffer) of High Energy Sports and she could do a reserve clinic after January... - Hugh

[Dan T]

A repack opportunity would be great. I for one am long overdue.

[Joe Schad]

Does anyone know the name of the folks who have purchased the Woodstock LZ? And are these folks now living at the farm? I saw some vehicles drive into the main house a week ago as we were on launch. I would like to stop by and say hello to the new owners.

Joe

[wmelo]

The new owner is William Parsons. I do not have his contact information.

[mingram]

I requested contact information from the realtor.

[mcelrah]

Hey Matt,
Whaddaya think about a meeting? Has the board got a plan?
- Hugh

[mingram]

We'd like to do a Winter meeting, but haven't been able to find a host yet. Anyone want to offer their house?

[mcelrah]

If no one with a bigger place pipes up, we can have it at mine before the 20th (big family confab after that).

Just to throw out the first ball, I have nothing noted on my calendar the next three Fridays, 4th, 11th and 18th.

One item I would like to get on the agenda (beyond reserve clinic) is the idea of showing USHPA's "film festival in a box" to get us through the vexatious winter months. Need someone who has a big TV and knows how to get the content to play on it. I think USHPA's idea is to use it as a recruitment tool, so we might consider a public venue...

None of this is to ignore how much we all feel the loss of Karen. In addition to the celebration of her life next weekend, we need more opportunities to absorb this blow and support each other. Matthew and Karen were examples to us all in seeking Wilderness First Responder training. Perhaps we should discuss a re-emphasis on safety and incident response...

- Hugh
5708 39th Avenue
Hyattsville MD 20781

[Eric]

Hi,

Does anyone know of a Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course that is offered during evenings or weekends in the DC Metro Area? The courses I've been able to find online are all two-week, 80 hour courses taught during the day, which I want to do but can't. I did find that REI, for example, offers Wilderness Medicine Institute's (WMI) Wilderness First Aid (WFA) course, which is 18 to 20 hours, but I'm not sure how comprehensive that might be. Has anyone ever contacted WMI to maybe have a local certified instructor help with a course targeted specifically to hang gliding/paragliding scenarios? I guess the entire WFR curriculum could apply, but it seems there are scenarios that are more likely as compared to others.

Also, has anyone ever thought about or tried to intentionally map-out and mark "walk-able" trails to areas around launch sites in the area that might have a higher probability of being a location where a pilot might crash and sustain injury? (I know in most situations this would be hard to predict.)

Eric

[mcelrah]

Ya, USHPA requires instructors (including tandem pilots) to take a Red Cross first aid course with automatic electronic defibrillator - even though we aren't usually in areas where an AED is available - it's just an easy course to find that we can do in a day. WFA is better for us, even if we also have to do the Red Cross course. - Hugh

[wmelo]

I will be delighted to host the meeting in my humble house in Ashurn, Va after X-Mas