2013 Spring Section Meeting

Battleships, Beads, and Engines | Southeast Section | April 5-7, 2013

What do battleships, beads, and engines have in common? They are all found in Mobile, and all of our SE Section 99s got the opportunity to see them all. We had a great registration for this Spring Section meeting but Mother nature and other “odds and ends” intervened to make the attendance a little low. But those who braved the weather and remained steadily on their feet were treated to some fantastic sites in Mobile, AL.

Governor Terry Carbonell, and Nominations Committee Chairman-Elect, Ellen Herr, ended up driving in from Fort Myers, FL on Thursday afternoon to get the ball rolling. Weather hampered their efforts at arrival by air. Tamra Shefman, Mira Bugbee, and first-time attendee, Jessica Miller, meandered around the weather and, in spite of a vacuum failure, arrived safely VFR. A few of the Alabama 99s filtered into the Holiday Inn downtown as did Mary Wunder, Endowment Fund Chair, along with her husband (and token male) Arnie.

Friday morning found a small group of 10 at the USS Alabama battleship and aviation museum. By then a larger group had gathered in time for the luncheon, factory tour and seminar at the Continental Motors Factory. The ladies (and Arnie) were treated to a great tour and seminar about care and feeding of your engine followed by a lengthy question and answer session. Many thanks to Robin Tillery for hosting our group on this exciting and informative tour.

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Friday evening found most of the 99s at the hospitality suite working with the youth at the Boys & Girls Club of South AL. The girls present were tasked to interview the pilots asking such questions as “What are the 99s?” and “What kind of flying do you do?” An informal session and presentation about the SE Section planning the 2014 International Convention followed. The New Orleans Chapter is leading the organizational efforts, but all Chapters are needed to pitch in and help.

Saturday morning found us all sitting in the business meeting where we learned more about the 2014 convention, the status of our IRS group exemption, and a host of other items of interest. A bylaws committee will be getting together to create some proposed bylaws for the allowance of electronic voting and the addition of 2 directors to the board of the SE Section. Marjy Leggitt was our International Representative. We were delighted to have her tell us about the exciting news from International. Mary Wunder got a surprise donation of $500 for the endowment fund from Maura Gurano, the hotel VP!!!

Saturday afternoon found the group scattered wandering about the downtown Mobile area, meeting up again at the Mardi Gras Museum of Mobile. As Mobile was the original Mardi Gras host town, we were treated to an accurate history of Mardi Gras, the families, and the meaning behind the celebration. Our last evening together found us seated at the Captain Semas restaurant next to the hotel, enjoying the company of one another and the wonderful southern cuisine, including killer bread pudding!