APPENDIX A. CHGPA HISTORY
The Capitol Hang Glider Association (CHGA) was founded in 1974 by Vic Powell. On November (?) 2001, the CHGA membership voted to change the name of the association to the Capital Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (CHGPA). The officers, the Skyline editor(s), main events, and decisions that have affected the character of the Association during each year since its founding are:
(Offices and posts are abbreviated as follows: P - President; VP - Vice President; S - Secretary; T - Treasurer; FD - Flight Director; E - Editor; ST - Secretary/Treasurer; DL - Director at Large; RS - Recording Secretary; SD - Social Director; VT - Vice President/Treasurer)
Skyline had 20 pages! Address was:
7358 SHENANDOAH AVE
ANNANDALE, VA 22003
Dues were $6. Membership was 479!
CHGA became USHGA Chapter #33. Dues were $5 for USHGA members and $8 for others. Address was:
PO BOX 64
ANNANDALE VA 22003
P - Joe Davies
VP - Chris Litz
ST - Marilyn Boehly
FD - Woody Jones
DL - Rob Rudisill
E - Marilyn Boehly, Les King
CHGA published a Member Handbook, which listed USHGA Directors, Examiners, Observers, and local dealers.
Membership was 123. Member Directory was compiled and offered to the members.
Dues $10. Memorable Skyline graphics!
Pulpit bought in partnership with MHGA. Responsibility for Bill's Hill assumed with MHGA. USHGA designated CHGA and MHGA Co-Chapters of the Year. Membership 229.
Dues $15. Address:
PO BOX 8808 ROCKVILLE MD 20856
Skyline produced on desktop publisher; quantum leap in quality; USHGA Newsletter of the year.
The joint CHGA/MHGA website was unveiled on March 2, 1997 at www.mhga.com, through the efforts of Mark Cavanaugh (CHGA) and Scott Lindsay (MHGA). CHGPA subsequently obtained its own domain after the re-name of the club, and chgpa.org went live on March XX, 2002.
Manual. This manual was begun in 1992 in response to the recognition of a need for a medium of communication between a Board of Directors and its successor Board. The need was first articulated by 1991 President Steve Kinsley and echoed by 1992 President Charlie Poland.
Division of duties. In 1991 the Board of Directors noted that the Secretary/Treasurer was doing more than his fair share of the work, while the Vice President had little to do most of the time. They also recognized that the Board needed to establish more control over the content, cost, and production schedule of the newsletter than they had at the time. Later, this recognition of the need for Board control was extended to all services and functions performed on behalf of CHGA.
Accordingly, in 1992 a redistribution of the functions and responsibilities of two officers was tried on an experimental basis. The plan was to make the redistribution permanent and formal by changing the Bylaws if it first worked out well in practice. The Vice President assumed the Treasurer duties from the Secretary/Treasurer. The Secretary assumed direct control over all aspects of the newsletter.
In 2005, officer duties were once again redistributed. The Vice-President/Treasurer transferred treasury duties to a Treasurer board member, and assumed the duties of the Director-At-Large. The position of Director-At-Large was dropped, resulting in a 5-member board. Members approved these changes at a CHGPA General Meeting, but (as of Jan 2006) it was unclear if the bylaws had been similarly changed.
Family membership was discussed by the 1991 and 1992 Boards of Directors. The consensus was that it could be applied to co-residing members of the family of a CHGA-only or joint member. Family members would have full membership rights and privileges. One copy of the newsletter would be sent to a family. The dues of family members would be the same as those for the CHGA-only or joint member less the cost of producing and mailing the newsletter. When no realistic estimate of the cost of producing and mailing the newsletter could be obtained because we do not always know whether the club copy machine will work, the idea of a different dues structure for family membership was dropped. This issue may reappear if the cost of the newsletter stabilizes to the point where family member dues can be calculated realistically. The 1992 Board of Directors decided that in the meantime, one copy of the newsletter will be sent to families who agree to that arrangement.
Meeting room renovation. In 1993 CHGA members renovated the meeting room at Lasick's in return for free use of the room in perpetuity. The club had been paying $25 each month.
Parachute packing clinics have been an annual event since 1989. Except for 1991, the format has been for Chip Rogers, a local certified parachute rigger, to conduct a seminar during a general membership meeting and a packing clinic at a local school during the following week. There was a $75 fee for Chip's services.
After the 1992 clinic the Board of Directors decided that CHGA should try to save the expense of the rigger's fee. Flight Director Jody Willoughby-Pesch arranged for a small number of interested CHGA members to receive intensive training in hang gliding parachute repacking so that they can conduct the seminars and clinics in the future. Larry Huffman, (412) 352-3726, and Pat Brooks, both from the Pittsburgh area, provided the training. They received the newsletter as complimentaries for 2 years. Tad Eareckson, Bill Kautter, Kevin Madden, and Kelvin Pierce took the training. They should be able to conduct future parachute packing seminars and clinics.
Cross country seminar. In July 1992 the CHGA and MHGA Flight Directors organized a cross country seminar during July. USHGA Region Nine Director Pete Lehmann, 5811 Elgin St. Pittsburgh, PA 15206, (412) 661-3473, conducted it at the Fort Loudon, PA, American Legion Hall on a Saturday morning. About a dozen pilots attended, and all felt it was well worthwhile. Pete has done this for us several times in the past.
Fly-Ins. In 1992 CHGA and MHGA Flight Directors Jody Willoughby-Pesch and Kate Spoont organized a very ambitious mountain pilots fly-in on the first weekend in October. The event was the Pulpit Tenth Anniversary Celebration. It was announced in the USHGA magazine and letters were sent to neighboring hang gliding clubs. Another first was the plan to involve the local residents by contacting the local media for coverage, persuading local business to sponsor teams or individuals, and doing happy-talk PR with the spectators.
In 1991 Vice President Charlie Poland organized the most successful to date fly-in for the newer pilots.
Safety day. The first glider inspection/safety day was attempted in 1989 in combination with the August picnic/camp-out. The event was well attended, but no one brought a glider. The next attempt was in 1991 in conjunction with that year's Hang I/II fly-in. Some pilots flew, but none wanted to disassemble their gliders.
Yard sale. For a number of years Rod Bynaker put on an annual yard sale at his home in Damascus, MD. They were always highly successful at raising money, but did not receive widespread support among CHGA members. Few donated merchandise, even fewer showed up to help sell it, and Rod finally decided to spend this time in support of High Rock instead.
The 1992 yard sale was conducted in Lasick's parking lot in College Park on a summer Saturday. Member support increased, probably because of the location and $400 was raised. In 1993, the club raised almost $600.
Books. During 1992 the Flight Director obtained a number of copies of Dennis Pagen's new book Understanding The Sky and Marilys Wills' Higher Than Eagles for resale to the members at general membership meetings. In 1993, the club sold copies of Pagen's Performance Flying.
Car wash. In 1989 CHGA conducted a successful car wash in front of Dave Green's shop on U.S. 1 in College Park, MD. Enough money was raised to pay for food and drinks at the August picnic/camp-out the following weekend.
Benefit dance. In Spring 1992, two CHGA members asked the CHGA to sponsor a benefit dance to help pay the medical expenses of Charlene Campbell, daughter of CVHGA pilot Gary Campbell. Most of the work was done by a couple of CHGA members who are friends of the Campbells. The event was a success due to the arrangements made by Donna Barker and Ken Haltenhoff, who teach swing dancing and have many contacts among dancers, hall owners, and bands. Thanks to low expenses, a fine hall, a great band, and a heavy turn-out by the dancers, a sum of $1,400 was raised.
During 1990, Flight Director Santos Mendoza organized many well-received pre-meeting seminars. He developed a semi- permanent package of topic outlines so that lecturers would have a starting point for their preparations. Seminars are usually triggered by a rash of incidents or some other event, e.g., bad launches, tow rig purchase by club member, tree landings.
Associate members. Provision for associate members was made during 1992.
Telephone. CHGA first acquired a telephone listing, (301) 942-7242, and an answering machine in 1989. The telephone was in Bobbie Servant's home from 1989 until 1992, when Jody Willoughby-Pesch took it on. The telephone number was changed at that time to (301) 441-3095.
Mail. Over the course of the Association's history, various ways of providing a CHGA mailing address have been tried. During the early years, the address was the President's home. Later, post office boxes were rented in order to prevent the CHGA mailing address from changing with every election. Volunteers, prominently Bobbie Servant, would go to the post office periodically and retrieve the mail. In 1991 it became clear to the Board that a new approach was needed, one that did not unduly burden any member.
Copy machine. In 1989 Bobbie Servant bought for CHGA a well-used photo-copying machine from her employer, PEPCO. Mark Gardner, who was a photo-copying machine repairman, performed major surgery on it during 1991 and put it into good condition. It still requires a lot of attention and occasionally the newsletter must be printed outside.
Library. When CHGA held its meetings at Sport Flight the library was located at the shop and many members used it while attending meetings or conducting business. Since Sport Flight closed, the library has fallen into disuse because it would require a lot of work to make it available to the members.
Newsletter. The newsletter is published every month, although there have been years when the August and/or December issues have not appeared. The editor is appointed by the President.
The Exceptional Service Award trophy was created by Rich Donahue, Jim Oldham, and Tucker Battle in 1987 to honor Vic Powell for founding CHGA and for all his other contributions to the sport of hang gliding. Many old-timers, not including Vic, still refer to it as the "Vic Powell award".
Vic felt that the choice of the recipient should not be left to any one person, and called on the Board of Directors to decide who the recipient should be. The following members have received the award for contributions in the noted years:
1988 Skip Rifkin
1989 Alan Hobner
1990 Bobbie Servant
1991 Eric Logan
1992 Jody Willoughby-Pesch
1993 Tex Forrest
1994 Frank Sauber
1995 Brian Hardwick
....
2005 Allen Sparks
The Flight Distance Award was originated by Vic Powell in 1991. The following members have received the award for flights in the noted years:
1990 John Woiwode
1991 Bill Bennett
1992 Tad Eareckson
1993 Bill Kautter
1994 Mike Balk
1995 Mitch Shipley
1996 Tad Eareckson
Site directory. Christy Huddle first produced the current CHGA site directory in 1989. It represented a quantum leap in scope, quality, and quantity of information presented. The original batch was printed by Alan Hobner and distributed in loose leaf binders with a cover by Sharon Carr. In 1991 a set of updates and corrections was printed without charge to CHGA by Greg Basrak of Baltimore, (410) 426-6545. In 1993 two editions (the second an update of the first after it sold out early in the year) were printed using a private printer.
Site maintenance. For many years, Eric Logan has taken upon himself a major part of the task of seeing that our flying sites are maintained in a safe and attractive condition. He has organized and led many work parties and done an enormous amount of work by himself. In 1989 Eric raised enough contribution money to buy a Troy-built sickle blade mower called The Trailblazer and a second-hand trailer. About $300 remained for rebuilding the trailer, buying replacement parts for the mower, and for operating expenses.
In 1990 additional donations were solicited and used to buy a bargain-priced chain saw from Juan Sonen.
In 1991 the Board of Directors paid $200 into the Trailblazer Fund, and asked Eric to develop a budget or at least an estimate of the future expenses, the feeling being that CHGA would try to shoulder Eric's actual expenses incurred in site work since he invested so much time and labor.
In 1993, the Board of Directors agreed to try a site team system for organizing site maintenance work.
The computer system was begun in 1981 by John Ostrowski. Brian Thacker took over the system when John left town. When Brian became President in 1990 he passed it along to Frank Sauber. A portable computer (of sorts) was donated by Dave Green in 1992 to be used by the Secretary.
The current CHGA flyer has been in existence since 1991.
The CHGA Information Pamphlet for Prospective Students and New Pilots was first published in 1989. Version 2 came out in 1990. Since then, the press of other business has prevented the editor from making the changes necessary to keep it current.
Hang gliding course. In 1989, Jody Willoughby-Pesch assembled a course plan and worked out the arrangements for presenting the course at Prince Georges Community College. Unfortunately, not enough students signed up. The plan remains as an organized structure for presenting hang gliding to non- participants. It is possible that Jody's labor can be put to good use some day, either the use for which it was intended or some other.
Land owner contact. During 1989 President Bobbie Servant spent a whole day visiting Mrs. Kirchner and the owners of the landing fields for the Pulpit, Bill's Hill, and Fisher Road. Art Barrick accompanied her to introduce her. In 1992 President Charlie Poland took on the responsibility of telephoning all the landowners at some time during the year.
Pulpit. The Pulpit was bought by CHGA and MHGA as equal partners on October 21, 1982. CHGA President Skip Rifkin and MHGA President Bill Chambers were instrumental in arranging the purchase. Articles describing the events leading up to the purchase (written by Skip with Bill's help) appeared in the October 1987 issue of the Skyline, and the May 1988 issue of Hang Gliding magazine. In March 1983 Skip and Bill, still Presidents of CHGA and MHGA respectively, signed the Pulpit Management Charter (Appendix B) which is still in effect.
Flying fees of $25 per year and $5 per week were established at the beginning of the partnership and remain in effect. Over the years from 1982 to 1992 some of the people who loaned money for the purchase converted their loans to gifts. The rest were repaid from the flying fee profits. CHGA repaid the last remaining loans in 1992. MHGA completed its repayment several years earlier.
In 1991 a landing field purchase fund was established. This is kept in a separate column in the Pulpit books. In 1992 the CHGA Board of Directors decided against an MHGA proposal to amend the Pulpit Management Charter to require that profits go into the landing field fund.
At present, neither CHGA nor MHGA needs the entire flying fee profits to repay purchase loans or do site maintenance and improvements. At the 1993 joint Board of Directors meeting, the two clubs agreed that some effort should be made to secure a landing field and have started some preliminary work. In the meantime, each club is receiving its share of the excess money received from the Pulpit flying fees. CHGA is putting the money it receives into a special site fund. This fund is kept in a separate column in the CHGA books.
High Rock. In October 1992, High Rock Association members attended the Joint Board of Directors meeting and asked that the boards assume joint responsibility for High Rock. At the October CHGA general membership meeting, a majority of the members voted to accept.