Checkpoints Class News

Wayne Kendall and Barbara hosted ten of their family the weekend before Christmas at the renowned, 5-star Broadmoor Resort Hotel overlooking Colorado Springs. The hotel was established in 1916 by the Cripple Creek gold and silver magnate, Spencer Penrose, and has continued its Western influenced excellence ever since.

Betty and Gerry de la Cruz have been staying rather active this past year with senior pickleball and tennis (and Betty’s softball). The only trip they took this year was to Massanutten, VA for the State senior games. They both won pickleball medals which qualifies them the National Senior Games this coming Fall.

Mike [J] Clarke and Emma are still at their fly-in home in Baker, Florida where Mike parks his acrobatic Steen Sky Bolt (Experimental Aircraft) and Varga Cachina (Certified Aircraft). Mike grows his own fruit and vegetables and enjoys driving his rare Mercedes–Benz SL Class 550 car in the Northwest Florida countryside. In Vietnam, Mike flew the renowned C123K  “Patches” spray aircraft, which now resides in the Wright-Patterson air museum.

RG Head reports that he finally finished two year-long projects. The smallest was a cubic-meter dollhouse for their two great granddaughters.

The second was the completion and two presentations for the nine-foot AD-3 Skyraider [pictured in the December 2024 issue]. During the last month of building, he discovered that one of the heroes who flew it in the Korean War had a family living in Coronado. RG contacted the granddaughter, and he dedicated a presentation at the Coronado Historical Association to the family. The second presentation was to the San Diego Air & Space Museum, where the aircraft now flies in the Korean War exhibit.

Bill Hockenberry provided a recent update and noted that he finally retired from active service as a nationally recognized labor arbitrator, mediator and legal consultant after forty-one years. In his newfound free time, he continues to pursue his interest in competitive pistol marksmanship and added that he recently completed a two-day tactical emergency casualty care (TECC) certification class at his range which focused on classroom and hands-on scenarios involving mass casualty trauma incidents such as those caused by active shooters, deliberate vehicle accidents, and bomb explosions in public locations. His assessment is that such training, while physically and mentally challenging, is invaluable in saving lives in that critical period before emergency services arrive.

In Redmond, WA, Denny O’Keefe is planning to reside with his new wife, Joy, in a local full-care facility. Denny is convinced that a balanced exercise program is the key to longevity, and he has embarked on a vigorous self-administered routine to achieve his goals.

Charlie Liggett claims to have traveled more extensively than any classmate. His wife Kathy has also been with him to all but a few countries and territories. All seven of the continents have been visited; North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Antarctica, Australia/Oceania and Europe. The seven wonders of the modern world have been visited: Petra, Great Wall of China, Chichén Itzá , Machu Pichu, Christ the Redeemer, Colosseum, Taj Mahal, and the one remaining from the ancient world, the Great Pyramid of Giza. Over 100 countries and territories have been visited.

Ralph Lalime’s son, Jay, recently bought a Tesla to take advantage of the tax breaks currently available, and he decided his mother and Ralph needed one as well. Ralph bought the Tesla and found that it was smarter than either of them. He finds it fun to look at folks looking at him parking with his hands in the air using the “hands-off” parking feature, but he is not as comfortable with the Auto Drive feature. While neither Darlene nor Ralph understands how to use all the Apps in the car, they are truly enjoying the machine which Darlene has named “Tessy.”

JT Smith checked in with an account of his Christmas visit with his stepdaughter Patti and her family in Lawrenceville, GA. Highlights included a Christmas Eve dinner and family gathering at the home of stepgrandson Steven’s in-laws and Christmas Day with just Patti and Steven’s family (wife Shannon and sons Hunter and Hayden) for opening presents and more good food. Speaking of food, an excessive quantity and variety was consumed and resulted in a 3-day hospital stay over the new year that prevented his making his 48th New Year’s Day motorcycle ride, a tradition that began back in 1977.

Jim Glaza similarly laments that all of their holiday plans got canceled due to COVID which he got from his sister, who needed hospitalization and after care, and which he gave to Jenny. Lesson learned:  Celebrate holidays early!  Optional lesson #2: You really save money when you don’t go anywhere!

I received some nice pictures without comments. They may be viewed on the Checkpoints NOTAMs Section HERE.