Norris and Joanne Warner

The “Great Chili Cook-off” was a big success—although some suspected that David Talley bought off the judges! Anyway, we had five real winners, and everyone had a great time. Many thanks to all entrants who donated their time and money to make a fine meal for the chapter meeting. And how fortunate we were to have Nancy and Lew Mason, and Lee Ann and Jillian Carlson who stepped in to bring a degree of sanitation to the kitchen area after the event!

For the first time ever, we opened the meeting with the singing of the National Anthem. Our soloist was 16 year old Megan Reininger, who takes music courses at UTSA. You might remember that she is the little sister of Mary and Michelle Reininger, the young women who raced to Louie Viggiano’s aid when he unceremoniously ended up in the nearby wild animal refuge. Singing acappella is very difficult, but Megan showed off her tremendous range and power. Well done Megan!

Folks—make your Christmas Banquet reservations at once—remember, we can only seat 100 for this fun-filled evening. Call Lee Ann Carlson at 210.545.2376, or e-mail her at larider@sbcglobal.net to be certain you don’t miss out. Please bring a Christmas-wrapped gift for each ticket you buy and be ready for a Dave Baker-led fun fest! It truly is the highlight of our chapter year. Dress ranges from casual to ties and cocktail dresses, and you can count on Al Almond to show up with some mighty fine libations.

We’ve discovered a few of those precious Christmas ornaments crafted by our chapter friends, Anna and Jerry De Groot. Made of native mesquite and depicting our humorous chapter logo, these beautiful decorations are at home on your tree or anyplace in the home, office, or shop. Similar artwork sells for over $30 at Oshkosh, but these remaining fundraisers can be yours for only $8.00, with the proceeds going into our Air Academy Scholarship fund. Call me if you would like to have one—or more—before the Christmas season at 830.510.4334.

Do you think our newsletter is still the finest in the country? Well, I do, and I hear great compliments from many of our members. And the e-mail version is very well received, with 55 members currently receiving Runway 35 in this manner (if you’d like to receive it in this fashion and save us the cost of printing and posting the hard copy, e-mail Joanne Warner at njwarner@indian-creek.net and she’ll get you added to this expanding list).

As you all know, Ed Seurer has been publishing the printed newsletter for many years now, and at no expense to the chapter. If we had to go commercial (Kinko’s for example), our monthly reproduction cost would be around $400, a fee we simply couldn’t afford. Ed has been able to cut down the number of copies printed thanks to the members choosing the electronic version, and the savings in paper and postage is already very significant. And while we will never be able to completely get away from a “hard copy” version, we need each of you who are internet capable to sign up now.

Next time you run into Ed Seurer, please give him a pat on the back. He truly is a Chapter 35 hero!

And finally, if you are enjoying Runway 35 under our new editor Kris Niswonger, won’t you call him at 608.347.9949 or e-mail him at kris123@tds.net and tell him so? By the way, if you can contribute a personal article to the newsletter, Kris needs it by e-mail by the 28th of the month. I’m wagering that each of us has a story to tell!
Norris Warner