This Year's International Convention.
Canadian Women in Aviation
Conference (CWIA)
All Canada Section
Meeting
Other
International News..
Air Race Classic
Governor in Council
Fall Meeting
Section Officers
Committee Chairs
Member News
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The end of summer is approaching
rapidly and I have put this newsletter off as long as I could. I am
sorry for the delay in relating all the Section activities. It has
been a busy year for me with the Canadian Women in Aviation
Conference and the All Canada Spring Section meeting in June,
followed by a trip to the 99s International Convention in Oklahoma
City in July. On top of running a very busy sales business I am
being run off my feet by a very busy three year old so you can
imagine the state I have been (am) in! I am sure many of you have
been there/done that!
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This year's International Convention
I remain a 99 for many reasons
though, mainly because I have met such wonderful friends and flying
buddies in this group. I have always enjoyed the International
Conventions for that same reason. Attending the convention in
Oklahoma City and the dedication of the Museum of Women Pilots has
given me many more reasons to continue membership in this
organization. One of my favourite activities at the convention has
been the A.E. Scholarship luncheon. A dozen scholarships are given
every year to help women attain the ratings and licences needed to
advance in the field of aviation. Federal Express donated $ 10,000
in scholarship money and United Airlines donated two 337 type
ratings. No other organization in the world has committed as much
time and money to advance the status of women in the aviation and
aerospace industries.
(Congratulations to Roberta Baker
of the West Canada Section on receiving a scholarship to complete
her Class IV Instructor's rating). The thing I find most enjoyable
at the luncheon is the parade of past winners. People, who have
received the scholarships in the past give a short speech on how it
helped their career, changed their lives, etc. It is a very
inspirational luncheon.
This was my first trip to our
headquarters. On Friday night they held the dedication and the
official opening of the Women Pilots Museum. We can all be very
proud of what the 99s have accomplished in this museum. The museum
trustees have done a beautiful job displaying the Artifacts and
pictures, artwork and trophies accumulated over the years.
Unfortunately there is very little International content. Thanks to
Shirley Macdougall and Shirley Allen we did deliver a package of
articles and pictures to the museum staff. In order to do a nice
job though, they would prefer some artifacts (a flight suit,
trophies, logbooks, etc) to build a display around. I would
encourage our Section and each individual chapter to make
contributions to this museum so that there will be a Canadian
presence there. The Museum of Women Pilots represents our
collective history and we must take the responsibility to make sure
we are represented. We must also contribute to our local museums
but I believe that the MWP will play an important role in relaying
not only the history of the 99s but also the history of women in
aviation to future generations of pilots.
I had the great pleasure of flying
down to Oklahoma City with Margo McCutcheon and Shirley Macdougall.
Sue Ehrlander, Joy Blackwood, Cathy Fraser and B.J. Schermerhorn
also attended the convention. Dr. June Mills, the Governor of the
West Canada Section, flew in from Calgary following her honeymoon.
The Annual General Meeting was very interesting with several new
by-laws being passed to change the process of the way we elect our
International Board members. Now every eligible candidate will be
on the ballots and a plurality of votes will determine the winner.
These changes should help us avoid repeating last year's
disappointing run-off election at the convention. Another
interesting by-law change will now allow us to recruit Future Women
Pilots as members. Women who have a student pilot permit and
medical can become members and receive all the benefits except
voting privileges. Most importantly this time as a member will go
toward the time needed to be eligible for the A.E. Scholarships!
This new category allows us the opportunity to recruit members from
a broader base and also allows us to contribute to the advancement
of more women who are seeking to make aviation a career!
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Canadian Women in Aviation
Conference (C.W.I.A.)
The CWIA was held in Trenton from
June 10th-13th, 1999, in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of
the Trenton Airshow and the organizers were all based at CFB
Trenton.
99s from across Canada attended,
including Rosella Bjornson, Lee O'Reilly, and Bonnie Calwell from
the West Canada Section. Rosella was recently inducted into the
Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame, Lee has just been hired by Air
Canada and Bonnie is currently developing a new magazine focusing on
women in aviation in Canada.
Want to know more about Rosella Bjornson?
(L-to-R) Wendy Percival, Gladys Bowditch, Sue
Ehrlander, Rosella Bjornson, and Pat Crocker (seated)
Members from East Canada Section
in attendance included Sue Ehrlander, Pat Crocker and Wendy Perceval
of the Maple Leaf Chapter; Felicity McKendry, Susan Begg and
Dorothy Berthelet of the Eastern Ontario Chapter; Nat McHaffie, Mary
Norman, Bev Bakti, Sue Davidson, Wendy Paul, Wendy Gluhushkin, Linda
Kiff, Shirley Allen, Shirley Macdougall, and Joy Blackwood (who gave
a presentation on the 99s!) from First Canadian Chapter; and from
the Montreal Chapter, Suzanne Pettigrew, Suzanne La Fontaine, Gail
Connors and Cathy Fraser. We were treated to some very
inspirational speakers including L. Col. Karen McCrimmon, the first
woman Commanding Officer of an operational flying squadron, Elaine
Parker, a Safety Officer for Canadian Regional, Adele Fogle, a Trans
Global flyer, and Lorraine Williams who presented a workshop called
Humour in the Workplace. Pat Crocker also gave an inspirational
talk on finding out what you are good at and doing that very well!
Congratulations to Major Micky
Colton and her fellow organizers for putting on a very interesting
and fun conference. We were given VIP seating at the Trenton Air
Show and received invitations to the air show parties on base.
(Dancing with young aircrew was optional although you wouldn't have
known it! The stories of Pat Crocker's wheelchair escapades have
not been exaggerated!). We were also given a Search and Rescue
demonstration and the opportunity to participate in a practice SAR
exercise which gave us all a better appreciation for the saying
"Plan the Flight, fly the plan".
Of course the highlight of the
conference for many of us was to get to hear Dave William's
presentation on his flight into space! For those who attended the
launch, finally getting to hear what it was like for Dave,
personally, was a great thrill! His wife, 99 Cathy Fraser
introduced Dave at the banquet dinner on the final night of the
conference. He gave a very entertaining slide presentation and
ended his talk with a lively question period. We all wish him great
success in his current position as Director of Health Sciences at
the Johnson Space Centre in Houston and much luck in his quest to
return to space in the near future!
It was a very educational and fun
filled conference and rumour has it that the new one is being held
on the east coast in 2001!
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All Canada Section Meeting
On June 13th following the CWIA
conference, we held the All Canada Spring Section Meeting. Over 25
members attended and we celebrated the many accomplishments being
made by 99s across Canada!
It was great to hear that Julie
Payette completed a very successful shuttle flight to the
International Space Station.
It has been a great year for Kathy
Fox who received the highest Safety Award Transport Canada gives out
at spring Safety Conference in Victoria, B.C. In June, she was
given another award at the COPA convention in North Bay in
appreciation of her writing for the Canadian Flight Publication.
Most recently she has been appointed the new Director of Air Traffic
Services for Nav Canada. Way to go, Kathy!
We celebrated FCC member Dee
Birchmore's first attempt at landing an airplane in a tree! Good
job Dee.
Congratulations also to Nat
McHaffie of the First Canadian Chapter on being appointed the new
CEO of the Toronto Aviation Museum and to Marilyn Dickson on
becoming their newest Director. (Women should certainly have a very
good presence at this museum with these two dynamite women in
charge!)
We also celebrated
Dorothy Rungeling, an early member of the FCC and also one of
the first Governors of East Canada Section. With the sponsorship of
her husband and the East Canada Section Dorothy was inducted into
the Forest of Friendship in June. Dorothy was a very active air
race in the 50's and went on to become a successful writer. Now in
her eighties, Dorothy was very proud to be recognized for her
achievements in the field of aviation and writing.
Congratulations to the Atlantic
Chapter on winning the APT award! Your efforts in remaining current
have paid off!
Above, Pat Crocker and Anna Pangrazzi display
the APT Award won by Atlantic Chapter.
It is fitting that the Maple Leaf
Chapter won the first Annual Pat Crocker East Canada Section
Aerospace Education Award. Pat Crocker developed this award to
recognize all the effort people make in the category of Aerospace
Education. She developed the SOP's for the award and a method for
tabulating points for certain activities. The Award itself is a
beautiful piece of artwork the winning Chapter gets to display. I
have included the SOP's in this newsletter to encourage everyone's
participation. We certainly can't let Maple Leaf Chapter win every
year!
Above Pat Crocker and Sue Ehrlander with the
artwork Patricia Crocker Aerospace Education Award, won by Maple
Leaf Chapter.
I have often said that great
things come out of Maple Leaf Chapter. They are a small but very
active and dedicated group of women. So we offer you our
congratulations. (Just do not get too attached to that award!)
We also celebrated another member
of the Maple Leaf Chapter. Karin Williamson who was awarded the
Governor's Service Award. This award is given annually to recognize
women who make a great contribution to the 99s in their Chapter and
on a Section level. This award is a beautiful 99s pin which was
designed with the help of Joy Blackwood who initiated the award. It
is well deserved Karin, congratulations!
We celebrated the Canadian
Precision Flight Team's effort in New Zealand last year. Joy
Blackwood gave us a report on the activities of the CPFA is
promoting to encourage participation in the formation of another
team for the next competition in Sweden in the year 2000. They are
planning training camps and tryouts over the next several months and
welcome anyone who would like to develop their abilities for
precision flight. For more info on the CPFT checkout their website
at http://www.travel-net.com/~bobb
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Other International news..
The invention to new year's
International convention was out of this world! At the banquet on
Saturday night a small remote controlled space ship flew over the
attendees beckoning us to take a Flight into the 21st Century, in
San Diego, California July 12th-16th, 2000. The conference in 2001
will be held in Calgary, Alberta following the Stampede. This would
make for a great cross-country air rally!
The Award of Merit was given to
Cindy Rusher this year. Cindy has been a very dedicated
Administrative Assistant at Headquarters for over ten years!
The web site for the 99s is
www.ninety-nines.org and
you can contact headquarters by telephone at 800-994-1929.
The Public Relations Committee has
pulled together a Press Kit for use by all chapters and members. If
you are interested in receiving one of these, please
The A.E. Scholarship deadline is
approaching again. I would encourage anyone interested in applying
to start the process right away. Please contact Katharine Nazarian
(see our 99s Directory) if you need assistance filling out the
forms. There has been some confusion in the past and there are
specific guidelines that need to be met for your application to be
considered. Katharine has received the scholarship so she is aware
of what the committee wants to see and what they are looking for in
a candidate.
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Air
Race Classic
The Air Race Classic came to
Toronto in June! The Air Race Classic is an all-women handicapped
air race with a course which is approximately 2600 n.m. This race
was started in the early thirties I believe, by the Ninety-Nines and
originally it was called the Power Puff Derby. Cleveland was the
Terminus and Toronto was the last stop before the Terminus. I
agreed to be a timer and took Thursday off to participate.
Unfortunately because of weather 22 airplane arrived on the
Wednesday night. Luckily our very competent Stop Chairman Margo
McCutcheon had her timers Bev Bakti and Jean Hancher in place to
time on Wednesday! Since the weather was fairly bad on Thursday
only 2 planes arrived. I was able to time one of them. I also
escorted some of the racers to dinner and gave them a tour around
downtown. Nine airplanes were unable to compete the race due to
weather, including FCC members Anne and Rachelle Starret and
Michelle Pulley; Marilyn Dickson and Sue Kime from Maple Leaf
Chapter. The two planes stuck together and waited out the weather
and since they would not be able to complete the race on time they
withdrew and flew home. Disappointing as it must have been, all
the women remained in great spirits and agreed it was still a great
learning experience. Congratulations to Adele Fogle and Daphne
Schiff who did complete the air race! A fast airplane and lots of
racing experience really paid off this time! Thanks to Margo and
her gang. I hear the racers really enjoyed the stop in Toronto even
though they were vectored on the way in! (That doesn't help the
handicap).
Thanks to Dorothy Berthelet we
will continue to have an East Canada Section Website. We were very
sorry to hear that Judy Nicholls of the Eastern Ontario Chapter
passed away in February after an illness. 
Judy had been the host for our
site. Unfortunately our previous site wasn't being maintained so
Dorothy agreed to take on the project of maintaining and hosting a
new site.
Thanks to Pat Crocker for taking
over the job of keeping our East Canada Section scrapbook. Please
help her out by sending pictures and news clips of your activities.
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Governor in Council Fall Meeting
The Governor in Council Fall
Meeting will be held Nov. 13th, 1999 at Buttonville Airport, Toronto
Airways Boardroom from 3:00 P.M. to 5:30 P.M. This meeting is open
to all East Canada Section members and we welcome everyone to come
and participate in the planning for the year 2000 Section
celebrations!
One idea proposed for the year
2000 is an air race to the Spring Section Meeting. Next year is
the 50th Anniversary of the First Canadian Chapter, which became
part of the East Canada Section so we thought this would be another
good reason to have a celebration! If you need more info, please
contact me.
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Section
Officers
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Governor - Anna Pangrazzi
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Vice-Governor - Marilyn Dickson
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Secretary - Jean Hancher
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Treasurer - Dorothy Berthelet
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Section Committee Chairs
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Aerospace Ed/Apt - Pat Crocker
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A.E. Scholarship - Kathryn Price
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Canadian Award in Aviation -
Heather Sifton
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COPA Liaison - Anne Starret
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Forest of Friendship - Felicity
McKendry
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Nominations - Grace Morfitt
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Membership - Bev Bakti
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Operation Skywatch - Dee
Birchmore
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Scrapbooks - Pat Crocker
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Website - Dorothy Berthelet
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Upcoming Deadlines
-
Dec. 31 - A.E. Scholarship
applications
-
Dec. 31 - Nominations submitted
to Chapter Chairman for Governor's Service Award
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Jan. 1 - Pat Crocker Aerospace
Ed Award submissions
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Jan. 1 - APT Forms submitted
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Feb. 1 - Ballots sent for
elections
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March 31 - End of Fiscal Year
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Member News
Congratulations to the following
members for their recent accomplishments:
-
Jane Tilley - Commercial licence
& float rating
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Sandy Officer (West Canada
Section member, temporarily based in Ottawa)- Float Rating
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Kitty Houghton - Cutlass
Checkout
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Wendy Percival - Commercial
licence
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Alice Redahl - Commercial multi
engine
-
Louise Giacomo - Professional
Helicopter Pilot
-
Lise Bjerre - received her M.D.!
-
Alexandra Kindrat - President of
McGill Flying Club
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Gayle Conners - new baby!
-
Lisa Graham - new job with Air
Ontario
-
Marilyn Dickson - new job -
instructing
Governor's
Newsletter (E Canada Section - Summer 1999 Edition) 
