Hall of Fame Weekend Celebration a Success!

More than 300 skydiving enthusiasts made their way to Raeford, North Carolina, the weekend of October 9th, to honor five influential members of the skydiving community as they take their place in the Skydiving Museum Hall of Fame.  This year’s inductees are Gerald “Jerry” Bourquin, Dan “BC” Brodsky-Chenfeld, Norman Heaton, Christopher J. Needels, and Helmut Schlecht. The Hall of Fame dinner, sponsored by PIA, along with an array of weekend activities at Skydive Paraclete XP, raised almost $100,000 for the museum’s building fund. This is the fifth year the Skydiving Museum has hosted its weekend event.  In 2010, the inaugural weekend celebration was held at Skydive DeLand (FL); in 2011, the museum hosted a Hall of Fame Dinner at Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC; in 2012, the event was at Skydive Arizona followed in 2013 at Skydive Chicago.  All totaled, 35 skydiving luminaries have received their blue jackets and are now members of the Hall of Fame.   While each year’s focal point has been the induction into the Hall of Fame, each venue has helped the museum achieve its goal of raising money for the museum building fund while providing many activities for active skydivers – young and old – and avid spectators to enjoy.

Museum president James F. “Curt” Curtis III, a member of the Hall of Fame Class of 2013, served as emcee.  Among his duties included introducing a video snippet of museum honorary chairman of the board, President George H.W. Bush, who reminded everyone how important preserving our history should be to everyone and encouraged all to “get this museum built!”

During the evening’s festivities, museum board advisor Linda Miller was honored with the prestigious Skydiving Museum Board of Trustees’ Award for “her dedication and creative enthusiasm as a board advisor and her many contributions towards bringing the museum to reality.”  President Curtis also presented a special award to chairman of the museum board, Lenny Potts, for his commitment and leadership over the last decade while serving as president. Unfortunately, Lenny could not be in attendance, so the award will be re-presented in Daytona Beach next March.

Before the official induction ceremony began, the U.S. Army Parachute Team – the Golden Knights, who were the special guests for the weekend, were recognized and applauded by the crowd.  Earlier in the weekend, ten members of the current Golden Knights showed their respect to the five Hall of Fame inductees by jumping with the traditional batons, which they presented to each inductee upon landing in front of the appreciative crowd.

A special surprise came when Team Raeford members (skydivers from US Teams who trained and made their home at the Raeford drop zone in the mid-70s) contributed over $12,000 to the museum building fund in honor of Dana & MK Engelstad for their enduring support of Team Raeford and the Skydiving Museum. Team Raeford was inspired to help raise awareness and funds for the museum, and, in this spirit, challenge the rest of the skydiving community to do the same.

As each inductee was presented to the museum by a close friend and fellow skydiver, the honored guests came to the podium one at a time to receive their handsome blue sport blazer and memorial plaque, confirming their rightful place in our sport’s history. It was truly a magical evening and proves just how important the Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame has become to so many in the skydiving community. (Larry Bagley left presents Chris Needels with his Hall of Fame plaque)   A special thank you to a group of sponsors who helped to make the Hall of Fame Dinner as well as all of the celebration weekend activities possible with their generous support:  PIA (Title Sponsor), Phil Chiocchio & Bob Lewis (Audio Visual), the Law Offices of Robert L. Feldman/Robert & Jeanine Feldman (Guest Giveaway Sponsor), Team Raeford (Honoree Gift Sponsor), Skydivers Resurrection Award (Inductees Dinner Sponsor), Skydive Arizona (Hall of Fame Reception Sponsor), Team Sunkist/Henry Ottley (Centerpiece Sponsor), and Dana & MK Engelstad and Kirk Knight (Golden Knights Dinner Sponsors.) Sponsors for other activities held during the weekend included Pope Valley/James F. “Curt” Curtis III & Tim Saltonstall (Pioneers Lounge), Strong Enterprises (Pioneers of Sport Parachuting Reunion Lunch Sponsor), Cypres (Name badge/Lanyard sponsor), Golden Knights Alumni Association (Golf Tournament Sponsor), Lenny Potts (Golden Knights Tribute Reception and BBQ) , Skydive Perris (Fun Four-way Scrambles Competition Sponsor), and Skydive Raeford/Skydive Paraclete XP (DZ Venue Sponsor.)  (All pictures courtesy of Sean Capogreco)