[NSRCA-discussion] F3A WC Trip

[Jon Lowe]

Mark,

Job well done!!  We owe you a great debt of gratitude!

Jon


-----Original Message-----
From: Atwood, Mark <atwoodm at paragon-inc.com>
To: General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Cc: Geoff Dale <geoff at snaproll.co.za>; Linda Rice <destination at satx.rr.com>; Lloyd Coleman <lloyd.coleman at aavanvacation.com>
Sent: Fri, Aug 30, 2013 10:16 am
Subject: [NSRCA-discussion] F3A WC Trip


Hey Everyone,

Now that I'm back home, semi-rested and back on Eastern Standard Time, I wanted 
to take a moment and thank everyone for all the tremendous support we received 
before, during and now after our trip to South Africa.

As you all have heard from me by now, it was a logistically challenging trip to 
make, and without everyone that stepped up to help, I think we would have really 
had a hard time.  As it was, things went reasonably smoothly (there were a few 
dicey moments with cancelled flights and such but all worked out) and obviously 
we had a great result.

I would like to call out a few people that went above and beyond in their 
efforts.  First would be Linda Rice, our Travel agent, spouse of Jim Rice, AMA 
VP, who made all of our travel arrangements and spent most of her sunday (the 
day we were leaving) on the phone with Delta and South African Airlines, 
rearranging cancelled flight plans, and helping Don & Joseph get their equipment 
on board.   For 9 months she worked with me to find our lodging, arrange 
flights, arrange in country transportation, etc.

Next would be Lloyd Coleman, who was Linda's main resource, and eventually 
worked directly with me, in making arrangements with the South Africans.  Lloyd 
spent many a LATE night on the phone with SA to make our final arrangements.  He 
did all the leg work to arrange for appropriate mini-vans for us (that was a 
bigger hassle than you may imagine).   He also put together the one day Safari 
adventure that many of us stayed an extra day for, which was an amazing 
experience.

Last would be Geoff Dale, a fellow modeler and South African native who was our 
"host" club member at the practice site that we used.  Geoff made arrangements 
with his club to provide us exclusive use of their fabulous flying field for the 
entire time we were their.  He arranged for us to have generators to use, 
shuttled me around town for hobby parts, lettering that was needed, and other 
minor needs, and as well and throwing the team a big "Braai" (cookout) for lunch 
at the field.   Without his assistance and local knowledge, I think we would 
have been in a world of hurt.

None of these things changes the way the Andrew, Jason, Brett and Joseph 
flew…which was amazing.  But it did provide them with a somewhat stress free 
environment to practice and focus on the tasks at hand, rather than having to 
worry about all the potential issues.    Point being, we can credit a big part 
of our success to the efforts of Linda, Lloyd and Geoff.

I've copied them on this email, because I feel they deserve a huge thank you 
from everyone that was involved in this effort.

On a related note, I'd also like to again thank anyone and everyone that 
contributed to the team financially, either directly donating, buying a shirt or 
hat, raffle ticket, or whatever.  I have not finished the final financials yet 
(but I do plan to provide a fairly complete accounting), but it would appear 
that we'll be in pretty good shape for covering all of the major expenses.   
That also sends a huge message to the team about the support that's behind them, 
and helps motivate everyone to do their very best, not just for themselves, but 
for everyone that's backing them.     It's an ongoing effort, with Switzerland 
2015 a mere 23 months away.  But for now we can enjoy success and say thank you 
to everyone that helped.

Time to learn P15!!!

-Mark


Mark Atwood
Paragon Consulting, Inc.  |  President
5885 Landerbrook Drive Suite 130, Cleveland Ohio, 44124
Direct: 440.229.2502 |  Fax: 440.684.3102
www.paragon-inc.com<http://www.paragon-inc.com/>


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