Here’s the picture from Todd’s 1,000th!  The good weather streak couldn’t last forever, and we did get some much needed rain this weekend. It was good for the lawn, but not so good for the jumping! Although it was a rainy weekend, we still squeaked in some loads at the end of the day on Sunday! The High Altitude jumps that were scheduled will be moved to July. Keep an eye on the website for exact dates! Para Concepts has been expanding the loft. The new area will include storage space, a packing/work table, a larger cutting table, and space for several additional sewing machines. Thanks to Dave Cicciarelli and Jerry Baker for taking time during the bad weather to work on building the new packing table.  Since the rain kept us on the ground there was plenty of time for socializing! The beers were cracked early on Saturday and many rainy day games were played! Several people completed their water training on Sunday morning, congratulations! I am sorry to say that the ATV use out here is getting a bit out of control. The grounds are being torn up, and we are receiving complaints about the constant traffic and noise. If this problem persists we will have to ban the use of ATVs at the dropzone. Please respect the property so we can all continue to enjoy it! I would like to remind everyone that the campground is only for those who are skydiving or canoeing! Also, a campground waiver needs to be filled out every weekend! Registered campers will get a wristband, so please remember to register each weekend! If any of you have friends camping out here, please let them know to register with manifest! There are also waivers out at the Tiki Hut if you are arriving after office hours. I want to inform everyone that the dirt road that goes from the paved area past the Tiki Hut will be closed on Saturday nights. Campers will need to drive past the shower house and around the pond to get to the camping area. The weekdays were a bit more successful! Tandem Tuesday was another busy one. Wednesday turned out to be an AFP marathon! Thanks to all of the instructors and staff that kept the AFP students up in the air! The latest AFP in a week course wrapped up this past weekend. Congratulations to Tyler, the newest grad of the AFP program!!  Tandem Tuesday will now also include $20 discounted jumps for experienced skydivers! Also on Tuesdays we will have Skydive Chicago staff organizing jumps. So come on out and pick your favorite smiling staff member to jump with! We will be adding a 5:00pm class on Fridays for tandem students. Bring your friends out with you and get them to do a tandem! For every 10 new tandems you bring in, SDC will give you 10 free fun jumps!!! Some of you may have met Roberto, the Brazilian that knows how to barbeque!! He is traveling the world hitting all the big dropzones along the way and is writing a Skydiving Guide along the way! Check out his website: www.skyaw.com.br. Thanks Roberto for teaching us how to really throw a barbeque! We can’t wait to see you again for Summerfest (hint hint)!  In other exciting news, we are working on getting the Jet out here from Perris for Summerfest! We’ll keep you posted! We do have plenty of confirmed aircraft already: 2 Super Otters, Casa, King Air, Hot Air Balloon, and a Pitts to jumps from! I want to remind everyone that if you haven’t already done so, please fill out the new campground agreement and turn it in to Manifest. Locker rent is past due, so if you haven’t paid your rent for the year please do so in Manifest. This coming Saturday we will be doing night jumps! Don’t forget they are a requirement to get a ‘D’ License! They will be happening this weekend, no matter how many people sign up (Rook has some new toys he would like to try out)! The 10-way Iron Man Meet organized by TJ Hine is also this weekend! Please be in the hangar by 8:00am on Saturday, the 30th, if you would like to compete! The entry fee is $100 per team or $10 per person. If you don’t already have a team, come on out and TJ will put you on one! Sunday we will be holding the ever popular Swoop Club hosted by Mike Wittenburg.  To celebrate the 4th of July we will be doing $15 experienced jumps on Wednesday the 4th!! In fact, next week will be a boogie without the boogie! The POPS Record attempt will take place July 6-8th! The 8th annual Freefly Money Meet will be the 7th-8th. Most importantly the annual fireworks show and UFO jump will be on the 7th just after sunset. The fireworks and UFO jumps both are new and improved this year, which isn’t easy because they already were amazing! Also, the Tiki Hut will be opened all week with a different feast each night! Here’s the schedule: Sat. June 30 – Steak Sandwiches
Sun. July 1 – Pizza & Pasta Night
Mon. July 2 – Rib Night
Tues. July 3 – Spiced Shrimp w/ Vegetables
Wed. July 4 – Turkey Fry
Thurs. July 5 – Cajun Night (Jambalaya)
Fri. July 6 – Burger Fest
Sat. July 7 – Fajita Night
Sun. July 8 – Pizza & Pasta Night The next AFP in a week course will start on July 6th and go through July 15th. We are also introducing a new package just for AFP graduates!! Anyone who graduates the program has two weeks from that date to purchase a 50 jumps package for only $850! That’s only $17 per jump! That does not include gear rental and the package must be used within one year. We don’t want to leave out anyone who has already graduated so…anyone who has graduated this year can still purchase a package, but must do so by July 8th. Until next week…. Erin |