Due to last month's rains, the Rumble Rules 10 Way Speed star Meet has been postponed to Saturday, March 20th. Would anyone be interested in fielding a 10 Way Air Trash team (or Air Trash & Friends, if we don't come up with ten...) for this year's meet ?

Registration will be at 7:30am on the 20th. $150 dollars will cover 5 jumps, the camera slot, judging and medals - not bad for a meet. We've had enough people jumping regularly that we could do this and make a respectable showing !

Hello all,

Before I go any further I would like to point out that Don Vredenburg is OK at this point and doing well. I heard from him personally this morning and he asked that I pass on the information of his condition to his freinds. So here's what happened....

About two weeks ago Don was scheduled to go have some surgery done to his old amputated leg being that it was bothering him and the plates and hardware had been in there since the dark ages. Next thing we hear is that complications had set in during the surgery and Don was in critical condition in an ICU. This was shocking to us all and knowing Don and what a tough old bird he is we couldn't believe what we were reading. Of course we wanted to be informed as much as possible on his condition but we also had to respect Don and Joanne's privacy so that is why nothing was posted on the board at the time. Then all we could do is wait to be updated.

Now that things have settled down a bit and Don is feeling better, he has given me the go-ahead himself to post about his condition. The following is copied from the emails I received over the last two weeks.

Just called our beloved "old pirate". He's going to be released tomorrow. He's doing well & says to tell everybody hello. He will be returning to Salt Lake City Hospital on Feb. 25th to have new parts installed in his leg. When all is said & done, he'll have a new titanium hip socket, ball & femur. It's not yet known whether this will require one more surgery or two....
Bully

From Joanne 2-21-10

Don came through his surgery with no problems. He was in and out in 5 hrs. Hospital for 7 days. He has a 2 ft. scar on his side from his knee to his waist and up around the curve of the hind quarter. They cut open a 3 inch "gap" beside the incision and left that an open wound. There is a flat vacuum pump attached lain in the open wound to drain the poison of the infection. The incision isn't giving him any problem but the open wound area is killing him and it drains continuously with much pain. A tube comes from the vacuum and lays next to the leg. Not being a "candy butt", he is taking very few meds and trying to do this on his own. He was on morphine for 2 days and stopped that, all he wanted was his Excedrin which the docs didn't want him to have. He's on constant penicillin He gives himself a shot each day in the stomach for blood thinners. They put a tube up through his bicep which runs across the top part of his chest to a cavity by the heart with continuous antibiotics. They put in one temporary piece for his hip, femur, and knee, and as soon as the infection heals, and the construction of his permanent hip etc., is made, he will have the second surgery which will happen maybe in 2 months. He is in Rehab now and will be until he can take steps and pain subsides. Then he'll come home. When Don gets home he'll send pictures of the event.

Just an update.
Joanne

Then this... Dated the same day.

Don was taken from rehab by ambulance Friday night to emergency at Cedar hospital. He had trouble breathing, and while there he had a heart attack . He's blood was low. They found that he was bleeding internally. They rushed him from there to Dixie emergency where he is now in ICU. They gave him another pint of blood. He had another minor heart attack. He is not breathing on his own. He is in critical condition. 4 cardiologists are working on him, and he has another infection somewhere, but they can't locate it. They are trying to control the first infection which is fighting the antibiotics. Found he has a bleeding ulcer, and want to put a stint in, but can't operate because of internal bleeding, so they were trying something new last night. Told Cory and me to go home, get some sleep and come back in the morning. Cory is on his way here now.

More later,
Joanne.

From Bully on March 1st...

Bill Cockfield's wife Annie received a text message from Joanne Vredenburg sometime yesterday. It was brief, but here's what it said - Don has had a stroke & is now weak on his left side. Sometime this week, they want to work on his heart (whatever that means). The doctors have been trying to communicate with Don, but he's unable to comprehend at this point, because of the heavy meds he's on which are causing him to hallucinate, etc. This is all the information at this point. It's hoped that Joanne will continue to send text messages to Annie from time to time so we may stay updated in this way. As you probably all realize, without Joanne's permission, Larry cannot make these updates public information, that's why you haven't seen anything posted on the A.T. website about Don's situation.

Bully

Date: Thursday, March 4, 2010, 11:44 AM

Hi John, It's snowing today so I took the day off but not to worry as Don will be entertained by all the young nurses. He is fighting hard, so many things went wrong for him. The surgery itself was a big success but the poison from his 35 year old hip wore him down. Came from 8 days in Salt Lake and to Rehab in good spirits. 2-3 days later in the evening they called to tell me he was taken to Cedar Emergency, couldn't breathe. There he had a heart attack and they found he had enternal bleeding. They rushed him to St. George Hospital in a coma which he stayed in ICU for 6 days in a coma, had a stroke. Found a bleeding ulcer and other complications. He has several blocked arteries but in no condition to have surgery so are monitering him, he's hooked up to everything. They are addressing the ulcer and clogged arteries. His mind is wondering which they say is normal after a coma and the strain on his heart. His left side is weak, can't stand and hold his weight with his good leg, need to get him to therapy again so setting him up here in Cedar. The hospital says he has to get stronger before they can help him, he slurs his words if he talks to long BUT HE IS FIGHTING, it's hard to see him this way but I am a true believer that if he can start rehab again good things will happen. The doc says his mind might wonder for a year or two but I think not, therapy and keeping busy will help him. He starts a conversation lucid and then trails off with stories that we just go along with. Correct him if neccessary. He enjoys the cards, he can't seem to work his cell phone well. He gets moved often, send things here and I'll give them to him. We are hoping they transfer him today or tomorrow. Will keep in touch.

Your support is much appreciated.
Joanne

Voice Mail To Larry - March 5, 2010

Out of nowhere, I receive a voice mail from the old pirate himself. He told me to go ahead and let everyone in on what's going on and that he's feeling much better. I was relieved.

Because Don is being moved around so much Joanne asked that any cards be sent to her address and she will deliver them to Don personally. Don really loves hearing from the few who have been in contact with him so let's let the old bird know just how we feel about him. Well you could lie a little I suppose LOL...

Please send cards to:

Don Vredenburg
1373 N. Park Ave. 6775 W.
Cedar City, Utah 84721

Also, Don being an old freefall photographer.... Don loves old skydiving photos, so if any of you guys have a snap shot or two from the good ol' days, or can copy some out of your computer folders, include those in the cards too. Click Here for our Spotlight On Don V.

Kenny Hamner and his newly appointed wife Ginger pose for this Air Trash Moment. Kenny and Ginger were married in Taft on January 30th, 2010. I believe this might be the first photo I have seen of someone wearing his AT Cap at his wedding. Way to go Kenny! Take good care of him Ginger.

Here's an old photo of Bill Stage from somewhere in time. Bill is an important part of skydiving history and will be remembered as one of the good ones.

Front row: Bullet Betty, Bill Stage, Tony DeRosa, Charmian (Cliff) Larson, Chuck Wickliffe, & Purple Patty.

Back row: first girl I can't remember, Mia, Unknown, Karen Hart, & Debbie Zwiefle.

Pioneers of sport parachuting reunion held February 12, 13,14 at the center of the world -- Jacques Istel D2 was our host. Blue skies our canvass. Great stories our paint brush. The Latin Skydivers and several many Air Trashers helped make it real.

Some truly great skydiving pioneers & Old Farts have passed recently. Therefore, this year's Old Farts Taft get together is dedicated to the memories of Harry Leicher, Paul Gorman, Gary Douris, Chuck Sweeney, Bill Stage & Bob Blanchard.

Just thought Id pass this along. Bob Blanchard, Silly Tit #65 Passed away Jan 11 th in Deland Fla. He had been in declining health for several months. They did an arial burial for him at Deland DZ.

Jeremy Mahony
AT, Silly Tit #134

Wow, Bob Blanchard . . .

When he broke down his parachute loft here in So Cal to head for Florida in 1985 he ended up with two trucks worth of stuff. He needed some help so I drove the second truck and we caravanned across the country. We stopped in New Orleans to break up the trip and had ourselves a high old time I'll never forget. Bob was a great guy and I've missed him even before I knew he was gone . . .

Hi there,

I'm sorry to report that Bill Stage died yesterday. If you remember, Bill was one of the Arvin Good Guys who was on the worlds first 8-man star as well as the first 10-man star. Bill had health problems for many years (kidneys) and seemed to be near death on several occasions, but always bounced back.

The last time I saw Bill was in Taft for the 42nd anniversary of the first 10-man. He looked very frail, and caused me to wonder if I would ever see him again. To say the least, he was one of the more colorful jumpers of the era; wavy red hair, freckle faced, and had bells on his jump boots. Oh yes, lest we forget, he was also the safety officer at the bone yard (Arvin) and was prepared to ground anyone who open low. His wife Mary found him sitting in his favorite chair apparently sleeping, but when he didn't respond to her call, she tried C.P.R. on him to no avail. Shortly thereafter, medics confirmed that he had passed on.

There will be a private service for Bill as he did not want an anything elaborate.

R.I.P., Bill, we'll all miss you.
Brian

You can send a card to Mary Stage at:

Mary Stage
30815 Hogans Mountain Road
Coarsegold, CA 93614

Here's to Bill Stage, one of the last of the skydiving era when It took real balls to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. Many, many friends will be waiting to greet him, fly with him, and BS with him, and oh yeah, he will have buy that first case when he gets there.

BSBD,
Tim Long

Sorry to hear about bill stage. I rented a room from him when I was in the navy in 70 71. He turned me on to alotta good times. Miss you bill.

Jake Lombard scr 449

Bill Stage was also known for promoting the Women's Star Crest Award, IMHO, the prettiest of all the RW awards.

John T. Brasher D-5166 ST-33

Just did an 'aerial burial'..........

Question is......... who has a JLS card signed by Bill Stage?.....

I got mine........

Semper Fi,
CAZ

I have my JLS card signed by Bill, also the patch.

Mark your calendars & help spread the word. Saturday, May 29th, will be the date of this years Grumpy, Gimpy Old Farts get together at Taft dz.

You may check out last year's 2009 event here. It was a huge success and a good time was had by all. We will be posting more info as we get closer to this year's event. Make sure to tell everyone you know to start planning now.

That is all.

Hello, My name is Patrick and I John Terry's son. He wanted me to give you guys an update and to share some recent photos.

John is rehabing now and will be home Jan. 5th, after that he will still have a while to go before he is done.

Below is the caption he wanted for the photos:

Happy holidays from Airtrash East. John Terrry, recovering from a crash and burn with help from a Christmas angel.

Grizzled veteran skydiver extraordinare, SCR 216, Air Trasher, Silly Tit & all around GOOD GUY Dennis Henley, is back in the air again & is now a member of the "Secret Society Of The Chicken Chokers". Here's how the whole stinking mess came together.

Dennis wanted to resume skydiving after many years away from the sport. He started attending Halloween boogies at Taft several years ago & was also in attendance over Memorial Day, at the: "Grumpy, "Gimpy Old Farts With Attitudes Meet at Taft" get together.

Well, everybody is familiar with the old saying: "If you lay around with dogs long enough, you're going to get fleas" That's exactly what happened. Dennis got bitten with the "skydiving bug"..... again..... Dennis took a refresher course, rented some gear & made a leap at Hollister dz. All went well. To resume jumping though, Dennis would need some current gear. Skydivers are the most generous & big hearted folks in the world & here's what happened next..... gear contributions & rigging services started coming in from old friends far & wide....

List Of Donors

Fred Basile - Raven 3 Reserve
Kevin Donnelly - Vector 2 harness & container system
Stan & Mariann Troeller - P.D. 300 sq. foot main (Big Red)
Mike Fury - Main deployment bag
Peter Godbold - Altimeter
Allen Silver - Master Rigger who lives in Hayward Ca. - Sewed new attachment bridle to new deployment bag & provided a line knife

Results: 1 "Franken-Rig" (nickname given by Larry Walsh who says, "It's not borrowed gear if you own it.")

With "Franken-Rig" in tow, Dennis & buddy Allen Silver headed down to Skylark Field in Elsinore, to attend the memorial for Gary Douris on Saturday, Nov. 14th. Dennis didn't jump that Saturday, but instead spent the day visiting with several hundred skydiving pioneers who were in attendance. Sunday, Nov. 15th.... 5-Way Chicken Chokers Baton Pass Jump:

Participants at Skylark Field:

1. Life Size Rubber Chicken
2. Dennis Henley
3. Randy "Stinky" Green
4. Bill "Cocky" Cockfield
5. Stan Troeller
6. Bully

After gearing up & dirt diving, we headed to The Otter. On exit, out came Henley's tall, lanky body into freefall. He did a BEAUTIFUL swoop & grabbed/choked that chicken, thus becoming C.C. # 17. In the remaining time, we formed a Star. At break-off, everybody had good openings. The wind Gods were kind & provided steady 8 mph winds, so ALL had soft landings. Afterwards, a quick "safety meeting" in the parking lot was called to order to congratulate Dennis on becoming a C.C. & then it was time for all to head off to their respective destinations.

Many THANKS to ALL the kind & generous folks who's gear donations & rigging services made it possible for Dennis to resume skydiving. We look forward to making many more fun jumps with Dennis. HIM! HIM!

Hey all you AIRTRASHERS! I hope you're all older than me HA HA!!!!

Trash my old email address. My new one is spaceman.atkins32@gmail.com

I've been trying too make it out to the DZ, but haven't as you know! I'll try to be there last weekend in Dec.

We finally did it. We built our house and hangar at Bouland Estates Airpark located SW of Fort Worth, Texas. We are enjoying "Living With Our Airplane" as Bob enters retirement and MJ flies out of DFW.

Our emails are:
bobutt62@gmail.com
mjbutt12@gmail.com
Email us for phone number.

We welcome our friends to stop in anytime. There is always cold beer in the hangar.

Bourland Field's Identifier is 50f and the frequency is 123.0 for those of you who may wish to drop in by air.

Chuck Sweeney, my Friend - my Daughters Godfather - Old River Rat - Air Trasher - Skydiver - Base Jumper, passed away last night. I will send updates once I know more from the family.

Godspeed Irishman,

Hi Guys this picture was at Chucks funeral, it was our ten way team in 1972,

Names are:

Knealing Joey Olen
Front row: Norm Van Pelt, Sherry Cleary, Richard Hernandez, aka (Kamma), John Chase, Frank Venegas.
Back row: Paul Gorman, (Tall Paul), Mike Wasnea, Chuck Sweeney, Jay Sweeney.

Just thought you might like to see it.

Norm

This is so damm sad, how can that be, we lost Chuck? Thanks to the Troellers we have this recent photo from the Taft bash in May of 09. Chuck Sweeney squeezed the most he could from live, I'll forever remember him & all the great times we had with kind thoughts.

Don V

Sherry Cleary SCR 428

I believe you already know what happened. John got into a spin in his wingsuit and was unable to recover or pull. His Vigil fired and because of the spin, went into line twists. He says the canopy opened clean, but evidence shows line twists on landing.

Latest... John was operated on and has been taken out of traction. He is doing OK and will need more surgery for his hip socket.

Monday, 14 Dec. he's being moved to the Moses-Cone Rehab center in Greensborro NC for a 2 week stay. Work on the hip socket TBA later. His cell phone number is 919-548-5526 if anybody wants to call. Mail address is still the same.

Below is the mailing address if you would like to send a card. Diane says to send cards and mail there and she will deliver all mail to John.

Being in the hospital is almost like being in jail so a few cards and letters would be appreciated I am sure. If you would like to write to John you may send mail to:

John Terry,
342 Red Terry Rd.
Siler City, North Carolina
27344