The News of
C Sun City Center 5.8.2016
newsofsuncitycenter.com
5.30.2016 May 2016
Honoring Veterans of the Greatest Generation
By Kai Rambow “You’re too young to understand,” a mother advised her young son, “but thanks to this man and others like him, we get to enjoy the life we have.” At the recent Sun‘n Fun event, Col. William Brake and Col. George Hardy were flown on one of only 11 operational B-17s in the world. Brake and Hardy, like the flying B-17s, are hard to find. Most of these veterans are in their nineties. Brake flew 22 missions on B-17s from Italy before WWII ended. “I loved that airplane. It was well made; it brought us back. Even with a full load of bombs, it was easy to fly.” The number one thing the flyers recall is the cold. “Most of our missions were at 30,000 feet, but it wasn’t pressurized; it wasn’t heated. It was very cold about 20 degrees below zero. I suffered frostbite in both feet on one mission. It took me a couple days to thaw out,” reminisced Brake with a smile. The men flying out of Italy endured the cold for five or more hours. “We didn’t have to deal with open windows,” admired Hardy after the B-17 flight. Hardy was a P-51 fighter with the famous red-tail, Tuskegee airmen, also based in Italy. Although Brake and Hardy had never met before, there is a good possibility that Hardy escorted Brake on missions.
Every time the B-17 was heading out or coming in people stopped to watch.
Brake shared, “I was more concerned about flak than fighters. Towards the end of the war the fighters were not as experienced, although they still shot down some planes. But it wasn’t like it was in the beginning. The flak was intense, dangerous and deadly, especially over some of the heavily fortified targets. You just had to clench your teeth to fly through it because you knew one of them could hit you and blow up your plane. I don’t know how I got through it.”
Living History Flights The surprise ride for Brake was provided by the Commemorative Air Force, a nonprofit organization, dedicated to restoring and maintaining historic combat aircraft. They started in 1957 restoring a P-51 Mustang. Today they have over 165 aircraft in flying condition in 25 states cared for by 12,000 volunteers. Len Root, a captain with American Airlines, and John Bixby, a captain with United Airlines flew the B-17 all week
for the living history flights and air show demonstrations. Bixby noted, “It’s an honor to be flying the B-17.” Root cited the honor of, “the people we get to meet. Meeting the veterans and their families who get to see what grandpa flew in.” Curt Rowe, one of the crewmembers, related his favorite memory. “We had a guy who was a ball turret gunner. He wouldn’t talk after the war. We noticed him and thought he’d flown on the airplane. On the second day he stated, ‘I was the ball turret gunner,’ ‘Do you want to see it?’ we asked. ‘No, not really,’ he answered. He came back the third day and we open it [ball turret] up. He held class the rest of the week. His wife came up the day we left and shared, ‘He’s never talked about the war.’ That’s the reason we do this. It’s for them and it’s for the younger generation to understand. It’s was a different time in our country, when everybody pulled together.” The Greatest Generation Right Here Seventy years later, not every veteran contacted was willing to talk. One of these quiet, understated veterans is Richard Wright who flew 31 missions rotating as waist, ball turret and tail gunner. “You never knew when your next mission would be. Between 2 and 4 a.m. a guy would come in and holler, ‘Get ready to roll.’ If you got scrambled See Veterans on page 5.
“Summertime, and the Livin’ is Easy…”
By Janet Ditmore The snowbirds are returning North and many of our year-round residents are planning trips up North. The grandkids will be out of school and will have more time to spend with visiting grandparents, so many of our residents plan vacations during the summer. But that doesn’t mean that activities stop here in Sun City Center. Admittedly, most clubs suspend monthly meetings, but few if any of the studios close for the summer months. Some serious “work” can be done during these “off ” months, as witnessed by this sample of some of our clubs: T h e S C C We av e r s C l u b h e l d their monthly meeting on April 12 with a ‘Goodbye Luncheon’ for departing snowbirds. A myriad of salads was provided by members and the entertainment was a delightful performance by weaver, Johnnie Bates. Johnnie played the piano and sang unpublished music composed by her brother, with lyrics based on poems by A.A. Milne and Wm. Wordsworth. During the meeting, Instructor Charlene Roberts announced that classes would be offered during the summer months in card weaving, inkle weaving, a ‘finishing’ workshop and a
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Daily water aerobics offered all summer six days a week!
“towel” workshop. Members can sign up for any or all of the offered programs in the weaving studio. Snowbird Sherry Feldman, who generally spends her summers in Asheville, N.C., was overheard to say that she was considering delaying her departure for the summer in order to weave some towels.
Over at the Pottery Studio, the Potters held a “Bye, Bye Snowbirds” pizza party from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Eberhardt Room on April 12. The event featured an educational DVD that was well received. Although there will be no board meetings for the Potters this summer, they are gearing up for a very busy summer season.
Terrie McNamara, president of the club, revealed that they have just purchased 1,000 pounds of clay for the anticipated work to be done by the Potters in the next few months. In addition to the individual participation by members, Terrie announced that a number of classes are scheduled for the coming months. “We still have 55 names on our ‘waiting list’ for beginner’s classes”, said Terrie, “so, yes, we are planning both handbuilding and wheel classes during the summer.” In addition, she commented that special workshops are being planned for the more advanced potters. “We don’t ever stop”, said Terrie. Speaking of ‘not stopping’: the Aquasizers literally never stop! They continue their daily water aerobics classes from 10 to 11 a.m. in the outdoor pool, six days a week. Deep water aerobics classes are held Monday through Friday from 9 to 10 a.m. Members in the club can take either or both classes at the same cost and can attend as many or as few classes per week as they wish. What better way to spend the hot summer days than in the pool? Join the fun group of Aquasizers and get fit See Summer on page 2.
On the Inside 33573.............................................................................................8-10 Arts & Entertainment (Dance).........................................11 & 12 Clubs .......................................................................................... 13-15 Comics & Puzzles.................................................................30 & 31 Crossword .......................................................................................31 Editors Corner................................................................................... 2 Emergency Squad ........................................................................26 Events.................................................................................................. 4 Faith in Fitness............................................................................... 12 Faith & Service .....................................................................24 & 25
Golf ........................................................................................... 20 - 23 Kings Point ......................................................................................28 Military..............................................................................................17 Pets.................................................................................................... 29 Poem ................................................................................................... 6 Sports ........................................................................................ 18-23 Solutions ..........................................................................................29 Sudoku..............................................................................................31 Travel .................................................................................................16 Where In The World News of SSC.............................................27