2004 FVFC-East Picnic!
Article and Pictures by Kevin Bertorelli
This year our FVFC-E picnic went off with out
a hitch. The weather couldn’t have been any better and the food was excellent.
The new addition of baby back ribs to our menu made a big splash with everybody.
The turnout was a little lower than normal but the folks that did show must have
eaten a lot. There wasn’t much left over considering how much food was prepared.
We had 7 slabs of ribs, 25 hamburgers, 25 Johnsonville brats, 12 Ballpark
hotdogs, 2 cakes, 1 apple pie, a veggie platter, a cheese platter, 2 containers
of potato salad, baked beans, and 5 coolers of pop, Gatorade, water, beer and
wine.
Mick, Bob Debs, Vance, and Larry provided free rides for anybody brave enough to
take to the air with them. Among the daring was Donny Wittmayer. With a little
help from his friends he managed pretty well considering he’s still recovering
from his health problems. Everybody came away with a smile and, after all, that
was the whole point.
There were an awful lot of people that helped with our picnic this year. We
couldn’t have pulled it off without them. Of special mention was Bill. He not
only cooked everything on Saturday but also bought and prepared those delicious
ribs that everybody liked so much. His hangar was our picnic headquarters and he
& Michelle were involved in every activity from beginning to end. There was also
Bob Debs who did a super job mowing the picnic area, providing rides in his
plane, and helping with the setup and tear down. Mick and Judy were kind enough
to escort Donny Wittmayer to and from the picnic. Mick provided numerous
plane rides for our guests, and both brought extra food for all. Vance made the
great suggestion that we add ribs to our menu; good call! He also provided rides
in his vintage Tigermoth biwing, allowed everybody to ride his dirt bike around
like they were crazy, and provided help whenever help was needed. Larry gave a
fee ride to any guest interested in experiencing real open air flight. Joe,
Rickey, Jim, Phil and several others helped set up our tables, chairs and tents.
Phil Bolenbaugh's wife Dee brought a great cake to add to our array of delicious
deserts. Thank you all for making our 2004 picnic a success!
Where To Now?
Hartenbower's September Fly-In