This was the first time the club has had its annual dinner at the Dye's Walk Country Club.  When I first arrived, I thought I was in the wrong place, as our room was in the back and you couldn't see anyone from the front door.

A little over 40 people, club members and family members, participated in the event. 

The food was excellent - grilled chicken with cheese/tomato, cheese tortellini, broccoli & cheese casserole, baked potato casserole, steamed green beans and rolls.  There were all kinds of cheesecake for dessert.  It was a cash bar, but non-alchoholic drinks were free and the servers kept them full.  While we ate, we were treated to a slideshow of pictures from 2009. 

The Brotherhood Award was presented after dinner.  This goes to the club member that the other members feel has gone above and beyond to help other members and the club.  This year's well-deserved recipient was none other that Fred Whatley.  Congratulations Fred!

There were quite a few raffle prizes this year.  For the ladies, a $50 Simon gift card and a home spa kit complete with fluffy robe, soaps, lotions and wine.  For the gents, a Spektrum DX-6i radio, Escapade ARF, Nieuport XI ARF, VFO ARF and a builder's tool kit.  To participate, one purchased books of tickets - $10 or $20 - which contained different colored tickets for each of the items.  John Gaither and family cleaned up on the raffle this year.

Kudos to Fred Whatley for putting together a very enjoyable evening!

Chuck, Bill, Dan & Jerry

Jerry Sharp was the first to arrive, with his glow-powered Ultra Stik around 7:30am.  Dan Campbell was the next to arrive with a Lite Stik, but was unable to get a flight in because his equipment was too cold - he had kept it in the bed of the truck.  Chuck Baker arrived next with a Parkzone Radian and was readying it for flight when Bill Rugenstein showed up with an MS Composit Blade Dancer.

Chuck was the first to fly, barely, with Bill a very close second.  Bill was actually ready to go, but let Chuck have the first flight.  Dan got in a short hop with his plane, but the battery was still cold.  Bill had the first "crash" of the year when the motor popped off on "landing".  He mentioned that EPP gets brittle when it gets that cold.

Jerry & Dan - It's running!

As soon as Jerry shut his down, we all posed for a picture and then decided it was time to go home and warm up.  Looking forward to many more flights this year, after it warms up a bit!