Tonight The Dance Floor had their Halloween Party. Below are some of nice costumes. Mine turned out pretty scary, to some folks there at the party.
Joe and Judy's hair actually glowed. Great costumes !!

This is just a few of the pictures from tonight. I posted all of them on facebook.

It's always a fun time of year. The leaves are changing colors, the air has got a chill to it, it would be very enjoyable if it would ever quit raining !

I call this one, " The First Father and Son talk".

I guess that the people at Facebook, are trying to send some of us back to MySpace. They have had me locked out of my account for 2 days now, with the message about Site Maintenance. I'm a tech, and know that it doesn't take that long to fix something that isn't broken to begin with. They've been doing a lot of that lately. Changing everything, and making it work, ha, less. If you go to their home page, and read their comments,,,you can tell that there's a lot of us not happy at all. Don't think that If I don't respond on facebook, that I'm mad or trying to tell you something by no replying,,,simply put,,, I can't get to it.

This is a picture of Dan Anderson and Amanda Robinson, at the Shadows and Dreamscape Ballroom Dancing showcase, at Chattanooga State Performing Arts Theatre Saturday night.
Here they are starting their dance,,, the Argentine Tango.

They really did a great job with this very difficult dance, and made it look easy. Immediately after this shot, Dan walked Amanda back to her card table, and sat down beside her. He then relaxed his legs, leaned back in the chair, and past from this world. Doing something that he absolutely loved to do. Without pain, or hesitation. If the Good Lord would give me a choice of how I was to go,, It would be after/during something that I loved to do and had a passion for. This was his final bow, and last curtain call. Rest in Peace, Dan.

Below is an email that Ricker has sent out, thanking everyone for the gifts that he takes with him on his new adventure.

Hey Tree Toppers!
I am due to depart for Florida in the morning then from Florida to Ecuador on Friday.We are pleased to inform you that our efforts to raise money in an attempt to make a positive impact for the less fortunate children of Ecuador have been overwhelming. To date I have received just under $4,000.00. Anyone that has not sent me your pledged money or anyone that still wants to pledge money should do so As Soon As Possible. I have covered for the pledges not received out of my own pocket.
We thank you for your support and hope to soon share with you our progress and results of these efforts.
Please pray for our safety and wish me luck in the competition.
TTT Rocks!


Faithfully,
Ricker Goldsborough

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

There are a few things that those who have recently come to our country,and apparently some native Americans, need to understand.
First of all, it is not our responsibility to continually try not to offend you in any way.This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity.
As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, ourown language, and our own lifestyle. This culture, called the"American Way" has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. Our forefathers fought, bled, and died at places such as Bunker Hill, Antietam, San Juan, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Korea, Vietnam...
We speak English, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society - learn our language!
"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some off-the-wall, Christian, Right Wing, political slogan - it is our national motto. It is engraved in stone in the House of Representatives in our Capitol and it is printed on our currency. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation and this is clearly documented throughout our history. If it is appropriate for our motto to be inscribed in the halls of our highest level of Government, then it is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. God is in our pledge, our National Anthem, nearly every patriotic song, and in our founding documents. We honor His birth, death, and resurrection as holidays, and we turn to Him in prayer in times of crisis.
If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture and we are proud to have Him. We are proud of our heritage and those who have so honorably defended our freedoms. We celebrate Independence Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Flag Day. We have parades, picnics, and barbecues where we proudly wave our flag. As an American, I have the right to wave my flag, sing my national anthem, quote my national motto, and cite my pledge whenever and wherever I choose. If the Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.
The American culture is our way of life, our heritage, and we are proud of it. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. Like it or not, this is our country, our land, and our lifestyle.
Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion about our government, culture, or society, and we will allow you every opportunity to do so.
But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great American freedom:
THE RIGHT TO LEAVE!
Another thing: To those who do complain about the usage of words like 'God' and 'American' and speaking the language of our great nation,
TRY GOING TO ANOTHER COUNTRY AND SPEAK AGAINST WHAT YOU DON'T LIKE. YOU WILL MORE THAN LIKELY END UP JAILED OR EVEN KILLED.
In America, you take your right to complain for granted. The more patriotism that is removed from where our children are taught, the less our children will learn about what it is to be an American and our nation's spirit will slowly be killed.
Keep patriotism alive.
It is time to take a stand!!
God Bless America and our Military and Veterans!!!"

What gets to me, is that the stats say that, 85% a Americans believe in God. Yet, we(as citizens of this great Nation), let them delegate what WE can put in our schools, and how we raise our students. Something wrong with that. Is the majority that weak, that they will tolerate this kind of stuff?! How about the government being employees of the People, for a change? NOT the other way around?!

It was Candy's, mmm,, 30TH birthday this week, so Doris got her a little cake. She didn't want anything big, rofl. Happy birthday, my friend. Many more to come ! ! ! ! !
It was also a fund raiser for The Dade County Mountain Rescue.

The flight park has been such a large contributor, that they even gave us special mention on the vehicle. You many have to click it to see the bigger picture.

Inside the emergency vehicle with some of the crew, and the Captain.

Rick, the guy with the dark tshirt on, wouldn't be around today, if it wasn't for the DCMR team that rescued him during a caving accident. Thus, it gave Rick and his band, a good reason to get together and play, to try and drum up some more donations! Good music !

Tammy, a groupie of the band(and Rick's girlfriend) let her top speak for her tonight.

There was hamburgers, brats, potato salad, kraut, veggie burgers, a keg AND a band. What a great time, had by all.

Pilots' Wisdom:
1. Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory.
2. If you pull the bar in , the houses get bigger. If you push the bar out, they get smaller. That is, unless you keep pushing the bar all the way out, then they get bigger again.
3. Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is what's dangerous.
4. It's always better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here.
5. The ONLY time you have too much airspeed is when you misjudge your landing distance.
6. The propeller is just a big fan in front of the plane used to keep the pilot cool. Because when it stops, you can actually watch the pilot start sweating.
7. When in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No one has ever collided with the sky.
8. A 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away. A 'great' landing is one after which they can use the hang glider again.
9. Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.
10. You know you've landed on the wheels, when that divet causes you to take a short nap.
11. The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival. Large angle of arrival, small probability of survival and vice-versa.
12. Never let your glider take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes earlier.
13. Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking about might be another glider or plane, going in the opposite direction. Reliable sources also report that mountains have been known to hide out in clouds.
14. Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal to the number of take offs you've made.
15. There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.
16. You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.
17. Helicopters can't fly; they're just so ugly the earth repels them.
18. If all you can see is the ground that's going round and round and all you can hear is your own heartbeat, things are not at all as they should be.
19. In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum going very fast, and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose.
20. Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, experience usually comes from bad judgment.
21. It's always a good idea to keep the pointy end going forward as much as possible.
22. Keep looking around. There's always something you've missed.
23. Remember, gravity is not just a good idea. It's the law. And it's not subject to repeal.
24. The four most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, LZ behind you, gas back at the primary LZ, and a tenth of a second ago.
25. There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. There are, however, no old, bold pilots.

The Tennessee Tree Toppers received this from Steve,at Flytec. I personally own a 6030 Flytec vario, and I have yet to grow into it yet, but I'm looking forward to all the airtime that will allow me to do that ! Seems like we can always count on Flytec to support the hang gliding community, no matter what's going on! Thanks, for the quality products that you put out! The vario that I had before this one was a 4005, and loved it.

Steve has been our best and most consistent supporter for many years. Thanks to you Steve. We really appreciate what you do for the sport!
Ollie


Hi guys,
I just received the thank you gift, very nice and very unexpected! I am honored. My old lady saw it and quickly seized it :-) Which is a good thing considering all of the HG grief she has to put up with from me ;-)
I think you will be pleased to hear that that I have received more thank yous from TC participants than I have received from all of the other events that we supported this year combined! The nice notes that I have been getting make it so easy to support the TC. As a supporter, as a fellow pilot and as a director of region 10 I am proud and honored to be involved, even in a small way, with this event. The tree toppers truly are a credit to the sport. Keep up the outstanding work.
Please pass this sentiment on to the Tree Toppers, volunteers and participants

Best regards, Steve – Flytec & Brauniger USA
#1 instruments in the world for Hang Gliding, Paragliding and Ballooning800-662-2449 (inside the US and Canada)+1-321-773-2307 (outside the US)+1-407-264-8455 (fax)

http://www.flytec.com
http://www.braunigerusa.com
info@flytec.com

Please start the music, if you have speakers.

Everyday, we are getting older. However, the older that we get, the more commitments that we have. The more commitments that we have, the less time for "Self". I feel that is a very important part of the day, in order for us to retain our sanity.

To me, music is the very core of my existence. As is my hang gliding, and photography. It feeds and fills my spirit. As does a talk with my friend, Jesus. In times of loneliness, you have to remember,, you're really never alone. Unless you so chose to be. And the longing that you feel, can always be filled with some time with your favorite music. And, if you are totally alone, and have NO one to fill that desolate spot in your being, I have an idea for you. Especially, with the holidays fast approaching. When I lived in Huntsville, there was a Nursing Home that I visited around the Holiday season. In my travels, I saved all the unused shampoos, soaps, sugar,coffee packs, in the rooms that I didn't use. You should see those young at heart, but not quite as young in body folks, when you hand them some of this trivial stuff that we so easily discard.

I haven't set down since my recent breakup, and just listen to some peaceful easy music, and I have to admit,, loneliness is not for everyone. Slow down some, from you fast paced life for a few moments a day, and I believe that you will have a much more longer & happier life.

For everyone's information

Nick Greece sent a message to the members of United States Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association, Inc.

Subject: Good Morning America

"GMA will feature a 3 minute piece on Hang gliding this Sunday. The 2009 Big Springs Hang Gliding Meet will be featured on October 18th on Good Morning America. We hope everyone can tune in to see Hang gliding on a national broadcast. The piece features top American pilots as they relate why hang gliding is such an amazing endeavor. There will also be a short story with photos on http://www.facebook.com/l/d5cf8;ABCnews.com. The production of this segment was made possible by the Untied States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, the city of Big Springs, Texas, and the Foundation for Free Flight. Also, a big thanks goes to the Big Springs Comp team, all the pilots, and tug operators that made the video a reality.Hope you can tune in!"

This video was made by Lucas Ridley. Great job telling about our sport. I will be posting pics from Saturday nights awards dinner at the Team Challenge.

It's not a good day for Hang gliding today,,so to make you smile, I've posted this little 8 year old girl singing a beautiful song.

The wind direction today, took everyone to Whitwell's launch, since it's a SE facing site. It was really crossing out of the south today, which made getting off the mountain a little more precarious. But, eventually, everyone was able to safely launch.
I would say that 90% had to land in the primary LZ today. Some of the "A" pilots made it to goal. I didn't hear any kudos going out to any "C" pilots, so I would assume that most didn't go very far. It was switchy and a little strong in cycles. But, nothing but good landings were had by all.

If your NOT a carnivore,,,you can stop reading right here. Because the rest of this is dedicated to Jeff Wilson and his superb supper that he cooked and put together. Best cut of rib eye that I've had in many years ! !!

Each of them weighted over a pound each !

I'm taking the 5th on to whom this plate belongs to, since I think my vascular Dr. reads this !

Some great friends below, Candice and Alain.

I was impressed by some of the pilots at the meet, today. After having a very short flight across the valley, a lot of them came back over to Henson's and relit, to get an evening glass off flight. Great to see that kind of enthusiasm