May , 2016 THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WOMEN SOARING PILOTS ASSOC. www.womensoaring.org IN THIS ISSUE PAGE 2 Note from Mary Rust My frilly Editor’s note bloomers billow like the round PAGE 3 white canopy cushioning my descent. The SSA Convention I twirl a bit in the solstice air as I dangle below, PAGE 5 just sightseeing, wishing I could kick my feet like a child House Passes US Rep. on a swing, but this is a demonstration jump and a girl’s got Mc Sally’s Bill to maintain some decorum, although every man in Los Angeles Happy Birthday to the woman can see my stockings rolled above my knees. Did I happen who can fly \ / \ / PAGE 6 Karen Kalishek from Green Bay \ / reports \ / \ / In the News: Summer Gajewski, \ / Pat Valdata, \ / Judy Soroka, \ / Marianne Querin, Frauke Elber \ / \ / PAGE 7 Motivation to Action \ / \ / Witches meet in \ / Muenster / Germany \ / PAGE 8 \ / Welcome New Member \ to / In Memoriam: Swaantje Geyer mention how PAGE 9 much Meet Lora Lewis darn Sharpen your fun Limerick Skills it PAGE 10 is New Majewska Medal ?? Recipient How to nominate for the MM and list of past Majewska Medal Recipients “Landing on her Feet” by Pat Valdata PAGE 11 Details of attending the 2016 From her book “Where no Man can Touch” WSPA Seminar in Varese / Italy See page 2 page 2 May 2016 THE WOMEN SOARING PILOTS No Badges or Records posted for women during ASSOCIATION (WSPA) WAS FOUNDED IN 1986 AND IS AFFILIATED WITH THE March, April and May SOARING SOCIETY OF AMERICA Renew WSPA Dues in June BOARD On Time President And save the treasurer some Presently vacant valuable time and head aches From the Editor Her address is in the left column In the March 2016 issue of SOAR- Maja Djurisic (West) ING Eric Bick, editor of the maga- Vice President Front cover: poem copied from Pat Valdata’s book “Where no Man zine reported from his trip to Albu- 181 Del Medio Ave, Apt 205 can Touch” chronicling chronologically women’s firsts in aviation . querque, NM and his visits to Mountain View, CA 94040 Published in 2015 by West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383 museums including the Southwest ISBN 978-0-9960782-2-1 $14.95 Soaring Museum in Moriarty. He Leah Condon (Central) especially mentioned the exhibi- tion of “Women in Soaring”, that is Secretary A Note from Mary Rust, treasurer in one of the upstairs rooms in the 911N Gilman (Received 4-14-2016) museum. “Other exhibits include Wichita, KS 67209-9274 an upper floor with displays dedi- Dear WSPA Members: cated to women in gliding. This Mary Rust (West) It’s not too late to sign up to attend the upcoming WSPA Seminar exhibit is still in a formative stage, Treasurer in beautiful Varese, Italy! This will be the second time that we hold one but has the underpinning of show- 26630 Garret Ryan Ct. of our seminars in a European Country with our European ing the role of women in soaring Hermet, CA 92544-6733 friends. Flying with the ACAO Glider Club in Varese, Italy, one of the through the years around the most beautiful gliderports in the world, will be a dream come true for world. It is when you see such a you! Flying in the Alps is an opportunity of a lifetime for many of our Valerie Deschamps (West) display, bringing so much informa- members! Come join us! We know you will learn a great deal about At Large tion together in one place, that it flying in mountains, set new personal goals, meet new soaring friends, hits you what big part of aviation 165 Cameron Cres. and help prepare you to attain even more flying achievements in the and soaring the women have Red Deer, AL T4P2C9 future. been, and the contributions they Canada It was because of the WSPA Seminars that I attended back in the have made. I am really hoping that 1980’s and 1990’s that I was inspired to achieve my personal best in the museum will be able to con- Christina Peddle (East) soaring! As I look back over my years of flying gliders, I know for sure tinue upgrading this particular At Large that I would never have achieved so much, if it hadn’t been for the exhibit. It is quite a contribution to 10-57 Hansen Rd. N WSPA seminars, and the personal connections and networking during hour knowledge” This exhibition Brampton, ON L6V3C6 seminars! WSPA was always there to cheer me on! was the main focus of the museum Canada Some of you are still trying to make a decision on whether or not to in 2007. It is the brain child of go. Some of you are asking for more details… So I thought I’d put Kathy Taylor who put together a together a packet of information to help you make an informed deci- remarkable collection. Elke Fuglsang-Petersen (Int) sion! For many years I have been an At Large You might want to print this out and make your decision tomorrow! See advocate of making the Southwest Dorfstr.17 page 11! Soaring Museum the depository of 24613 Aukrug We already have 18 people registered, 10 from the USA, 3 from all women glider pilot related ma- Germany Germany, 2 from Italy, 1 from France, 1 from Australia, and 1 from terial. For instance I would like to Slovenia. But I have heard from another 10 or 12 who are still sitting on see the Anne Morrow Lindbergh the fence, as we say in the US. They need to make up their minds, so trophy, which is big and very they can get the best prices on airlines and hotels. The longer you wait, heavy find a permanent home HANGAR SOARING IS PUBLISHED FEB, the more the prices for those things go up! there instead of being shipped MAY, AUG, NOV. PLEASE SEND So don’t wait any longer! Make up your mind to come and fly the from recipient to recipient. The STORIES, PHOTOGRAPHS, alps with us! National Soaring Museum in El- COMMENTS, ETC TO For those who are already registered or who register soon, there mira, NY went that way with the is a Google Group that you can sign in to and chat with others who are Warren Eaton Trophy. This huge [email protected] going to the seminar. Perhaps you could find a roommate to share trophy stays in the museum with OR some of the housing cost also. Go to: wspa-2016-seminar- the recipient’s name engraved on FRAUKE ELBER, EDITOR, [email protected] it while the recipient of this honor 1002 Old Denbigh Blvd. #206 receives a nicely executed plaque NEWPORT NEWS VA 23602 Mary Rust, WSPA Treasurer which he or she can display at [email protected] or [email protected] home. Colleen Koenig, Webmaster Cell: 909-519-0420 (Call me or email me if you want to ask more I am calling on our Board to give [email protected] questions!) this a consideration. I have made provisions that after my death all the material on women in soaring I have collected May 2016 page 3 over the years and all my soaring books will be shipped to the South- west Soaring Museum. At the recent IGC meeting in Lux- embourg, Margot Aquaderni, our hostess for this year’s WSPA seminar was awarded the 2015 Pelagia Majewska Medal, the highest international recognition for a woman glider pilot. Margot is the fourth WSPA member honored this way. The others are: Bertha Ryan, Doris Grove (US), and the late Jill van den Broeck (Belgium). Nominees for the Majewska Medal have to be nominated by their National Head Organization – in our case the SSA. I am proud that three outstanding women gliderpi- lots I suggested to their national organizations have received the Medal. They are Doris Grove, Jill van den Broeck and last year’s winner Ritz de Luy (Holland) Should you know of anybody wor- thy this honor, contact the SSA Photo: Laura Radigan awards chairman Jay McDaniel. Frauke Elber talking to a visitor at the WSPA booth There have been years when nobody was nominated. This medal is not only awarded to out- standing pilots for extraordinary The SSA Convention in Greenville, SC flights but also to people behind by Mary Rust, Frauke Elber and Pat Valdata the scene (like Bertha and Ritz). And last not least: thanks to the Mary: What a great convention and so much fun! I flew from Palm Springs, CA to Newport News, VA to meet up help and support of the Warwick with Frauke on Sun, Feb. 14th. Pat Valdata, a past board member and president of WSPA and an original WSPA Forest (our new home) manage- member (along with Frauke & me), came down from Maryland on Monday to join us in Newport News, where we ment, I will be able to attend the spent the night at Frauke’s. We loaded Frauke’s van and took off for a full day of driving 500 miles down to seminar in Italy. My flights are Greenville, SC, where the convention was to be held. We set up the booth on Wednesday and then got our booked and I am excitingly in the rooms at the Hilton. progress of making plans how to make maximal use of 5 weeks in Europe. Frauke: Actually, even my Grand Caravan with the back bench out was not big enough to transport all the WSPA ITALY HERE I COME stuff. A member from my club, the Tidewater Soaring Society, came to the rescue.