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December 2005 Holiday Party (12/17/2005)
On Saturday evening, December 10, about 30 MASA-ites
gathered at the residence of Buzz & Kathy McDermott in Blaine for the annual club
holiday party. As usual, there was a lot of delicious food,
rocket talk, non-rocket talk, and we got to gawk at Buzz's stash of
rocket stuff and vintage kits.
The annual MASA gift exchange game was once again a
fun time with a colorful homemade nylon parachute, a tool box, a
display box, and a pair of Estes kits from the 80's being the hotly contested items.
Buzz ran a special basement session where the
youngsters built and decorated Edmonds Tinee boost gliders.
Expert judge Mark Thell ranked the gliders for their holiday
artistic merit. All five participants (Philip Gibbens,
Christian Vatsaas, Austin Whitaker, Daniel Boe, and Aimee Whitaker)
received a prize! A big thanks to Buzz for the Tinee kits and
the prizes!
2005 MASSY Awards
- Appreciation Award for hosting the MASA Holiday Party:
Buzz & Kathy McDermott
- Outreach Appreciation Award: Ted Cochran
- MASA TARC Mentors Recognition: Ted Cochran, Ken
Corey-Edstrom, Art Gibbens, Buzz McDermott, Mark Nelson, Glen
Overby, Rick Vatsaas
- Prang Awards:
- "Honorable" Mention - Glen Overby: for the flight that
resulted in the naming of "Overby Pond" at the July launch.
- "Honorable" Mention - Joe Schneider: LOC Aura on a D9
"Joe put up his Aura on a 24mm D9 reload with what proved to be
far too long of a delay. Rocket lawn darted in the soft
ground just across the drainage ditch from the launch range.
Then, the ejection charge went off - propelling the RMS casing
and its adapter arcing back through the air - back across the
drainage ditch! Very funny to watch although, to be a
great prang, the casing really should have landed in the [smelly
green] ditch water. Joe, I'm sure, is glad that it
didn't."
- "Honorable" Mention - Dan Keppel: "Spicy Meatball" on a
F21-4 "The most impressive shred that I've seen in a
long time! It was fine on an E9, but it definitely
exceeded the speed of balsa on that F21."
- and ... the PRANG award goes to ... Mike Erpelding for
his L2 flights at NARAM 47! Mike gets to keep the
"treasured" Estes William Shatner rocket video and a
rocket-shaped sand pail until next year.
Drawings were held for free door prizes. The
winners were:
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(The following prizes were donated by Hub
Hobby Center of Little Canada.)
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Aimee Whitaker - ASP Tall Boy kit
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Michelle Heren - ASP Wac Corporal kit
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Hannah Gibbens - Quest Aerobee Hi kit
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Mathias Gibbens - Quest X-30 kit
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David Whitaker - Quest Apex kit
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Daniel Boe - Quest Tracer kit
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(The following prizes were donated by MASA.)
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Lee Frisvold - Estes Guardian kit
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Caleb Boe - FlisKits Deuces Wild kit
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Austin Whitaker - Quest Tomahawk kit
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Ted Cochran - Quest Apollo kit
A BIG thanks to Hub Hobby Center (Little Canada) and
MASA for donating prizes! A HUGE thanks to Buzz & Kathy for hosting the party this year! An enormous
thanks to everyone who attended!
Extra thanks to club officers Mike Erpelding, Stuart
Lenz, and David Whitaker for a great year!
(Alan Estenson)
from Rick Vatsaas:
Thanks to Buzz and Kathy McDermott, Mike Erpelding and
the officers, and Alan Estenson on Door Prizes. The MASA Holiday
party was again a great success! It was definitely worth the drive
(wouldn’t you say Andy?) on a slippery night. I am
anxious to hear what Mrs. Boe thinks about having sewn the most
coveted prize! It was nice to see all of you, (and meet
some of you for the first time). We look forward to
seeing you all at the next launch!
(and later, with tongue planted firmly in cheek)
Well, I knew it was going to be a great evening when I
pulled up to the driveway and the parking valet stepped forward to
open the door and a footman arrived to carry the crock-pot.
We had to push aside the paparazzi to reach the front door.
Cheryl got in a fist fight with a photographer. I expect
to see the pictures in the next issue of People.
Upon entry to the house, the butler took our coats and we
entered the receiving line to greet the hosts. When we reached the
top of the stairs, a trumpet blew and our presence was announced
with much fanfare.
Shortly thereafter we were escorted to a 40 foot linen
covered sumptuously adorned table. The cocktail wieners
marinated in ketchup were most succulent. In the
background played a tuxedoed five piece orchestra, however, they
were having some difficulty with Buzz's Texas Ho-Down Music.
The coronation ceremony for the officers was quite
resplendent. I don't know how long it will take Buzz to clean
up the confetti.
For the door prizes Hub Hobby donated a carton of G-motors,
a full gross. Your name was drawn first, but you had to be
present to win.
Sorry you couldn't make it.
and, from Buzz McDermott:
Kathy and I both had a great time at the MASA Christmas
party and wanted to thank all of you who were able to attend. It's
obvious that MASA has a very warm and friendly membership. We
certainly enjoyed meeting all of you and look forward to having some
more gatherings in the future. And I want to especially thank MASA
for the 'Official' Stomp Rocket kit. I have determined it *will* fit
24mm motors, so mine will be built for at least E power.
I have a request for those families who's kid(s) built Tinees. Is
there any chance you could get a photo of the builder and glider?
During the build session I forgot all about taking pictures! For
those who couldn't make the party, five of the kids build
Edmonds Tinee gliders and decorated them for awards as the best
'Christmas Colors' glider.
There was also a great gift exchange. Everyone drew a number and got
to pick a gift in order. When it was your turn, you got to pick a
new gift from under the tree or 'swipe' a gift from someone else
(who then got the chance to do the same thing). It was a lot of fun.
The most popular gifts were a beautiful 24", multi-gore, homemade
parachute, a nice tool/range box, a wooden display case and a pair
of 80s OOP kits. There was also this one person who was absolutely
determined to get a particular hobby knife....
Numerous awards were given out, including the annual Prang award. I
suppose the club officers should elaborate on those.
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