Board of Directors PRESIDENT Mike Garcia Ph: 505 274 9301 mike1dwn@msn.com
VICE PRESIDENT Peter Cuneo Ph: 505 265 2865 PeterCuneo@msn.com
SECRETARY Diana Rutz Ph: 505 490 2412 Secretary@Hotairballooning.org
TREASURER Dick Rice Ph: 505 239 0200 rwrcpa@flash.net
FLYING EVENTS Keith Lutz Ph: 973 945 2819 flying-events@hotairballooning.org
COMMUNITY RELATIONS Amanda Molina Ph: 505 610 0753 Community-relations@ Hotairballooning.org
EDUCATION Tom Fisher Ph: 505 681-7202 education@hotairballooning.org
SPECIAL EVENTS Colleen Johnson Ph: 505 417 5605 Johnson_ec@aps.edu
CREW DEVELOPMENT Craig Pendleton Ph: 505 504 4655 pendleton.craig@gmail.com
Website www.hotairballooning.org Cloudbouncer Editor ~ Pat Chando Editor@hotairballooning.org
WAYS & MEANS Michelle Lutz Ph: 973 851 8113 Ways-means@ hotairballooning.org
Photographs By : Patrick Chando http://www.Inv isibleblack.zenf olio.com
http://www.ColorBandit.com http://www.HotAirPhotos.com Please submit your photographs for possible addition to the Coudbouncer at Editor@hotairballooning.org Remember to say w hen and w here it w as taken. Thanks, Pat
The Cloudbouncer is a monthly publication of the AAAA Education Foundation. PO Box 90160, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87199-0160 Subscription rate: $17 annually; Electronic Copy FREE to AAAA Members in good standing. The AAAA Education Foundation strives to provide the most valuable forum possible for the free exchange of information w ithin the AAAA. Acceptance of advertising cannot imply endorsement of products or services by AAAA nor the Cloudbouncer Editor, Publisher or Staff. Opinions presented in Cloudbouncer in information, contributions, articles, letters and editorials are solely the opinions of the authors and do not express the official view of AAAA. We authorize the reprinting of any original w ork in this new sletter with credit to the author and AAAA Cloudbouncer as the source. Please send articles and photos to our dedicated email address: Editor@hotairballooning.org Persons w hose articles are published are eligible to receive a special Cloudbouncer appreciation lapel pin. Deadline for all submissions is the Friday after the General Meeting. Articles, photographs and advertisements received after the deadline w ill be published in a future issue, if they are still relevant.
2006. This motion was seconded by Diana and was voted on and approved Vice President’s report- Peter has notified the Balloon museum of our need to have the room for March’s general meeting early, so we can prepare for the raffle and silent auction. The room will be accessible at 4:30. Peter is looking for speakers for April and remainder of 2014. Board had a discussion on topics and potential speakers. If you anyone has suggestion please contact Peter.
AAAA Board Meeting Minutes March 17, 2014 Meeting was called to order by President Mike Garcia at 6:00pm Members in Attendance- Mike Garcia, Diana Rutz,Peter Cuneo, Tom Fischer, Dick Rice, Keith Lutz, Craig Pendleton, Amanda Molina, Secretary report– Due to the recent updates to the database Diana reports that the extracts are not working. The updated areas were requested for easier use when creating the roster however these changes resulted in additional data entry and inability to run the needed reports. Diana is going to reach out to Sam B. and Rich from Intel to best determine a fix. Treasurer’s report – Dick has emailed out this month’s financial statements to the board and they will be in the cloud bouncer as well. As you can see we are again showing that we are almost breaking even amounts as the 2014 dues have been coming in. There has been a discussion of how the bylaws are written in regards to a balanced budget. The budget was approved last year by the board showing a loss for the year; however the wording in the bylaws states we must have a balanced budget. A budget is merely a guideline and Dick feels that due to us knowingly having a budget that shows a loss that we are in compliance with the bylaws. Craig motioned that the incoming president creates a committee to review and update the Bylaws and Operating Rules. The bylaws should be reviewed and updated every few years the last update was in
Education: Commercial ground school is scheduled for April 25-27, 2014 however at this time only two pilots have registered. If we do not have a better turn out this session will be cancelled. Education committee is working on a Refresher course for instructors this is tentatively being scheduled for June. Crew Development- The committee is finish up the prep work for the upcoming land owner relations seminar this class is tentatively scheduled for May 17, 2014 once things have been finalized. Craig will update membership via email blasts, Facebook updates and cloud bouncer. Ways and M eans –Michelle updated the board on last month’s Happy hour, we received $103.00 in proceeds from the 20% back from the Oak tree café. April 1, 2014 will be the next happy hour at Il Vicino on Alameda. We have had a lot of donations for the silent auction and Raffle. Community Relations – Amanda has not received any request this month. Flying Events –Keith went over his board notes that will be in the Cloudbouncer. Special Events- Vacant Position at this time. New Business – Keith has presented a motion to adopt a policy that states that individuals participating in our monthly flying events must report any incidents that may have that involve any other municipality to the Flying Event committee or the board. This motion was seconded by Michelle and Approved by unanimous vote of the board. Keith has presented a motion to alter the definition on the waiver of who can participate in our monthly
events. Currently it states if they are a member in good standing with AAAA. We would like to amend this to state that participant must be current with a valid pilot’s license and the balloon must have valid insurance and certification also the pilot must be registered with our event. This motion was seconded by Dick and Approved by unanimous vote of the board. NM Quilters association has contacted us to pass along the release for Pilots who would like to have their balloon likeness available to be used on the annual quilt that is auctioned off during Fiesta. The quilters need this release to be able to use the balloon likeness. We have been contacted by Mike Shrum in regards to AAAA providing a scholarship for the 2014 BFA balloon camps. The balloon camps are coming up in June and July however the deadline for registering is May 15, 2014 The motion was presented to provide a scholarship to a Child of a AAAA member for the 2015 BFA balloon camp this scholarship will cover the cost of registration for camp. This will not cover travel expenses for the participant. There will be an application process and criteria that must be met in order for the child to be considered for the scholarship. The motion was seconded by Diana and unanimous approved by board vote.
AAAA General Meeting Minutes General Meeting:
Secretary Report: None.
Treasurer’s report: In Main Cloudbouncer
We are still looking for an April Speaker. I contacted PNM for a possible power line safety talker. Johnny Trammell, who did a wellreceived presentation to us several years ago is no longer with PNM . His replacement, Morgan DeM aroney said he would get back to me after doing some research to see if he can do a similar presentation for us. I also contacted Bruce Comstock whose recently published book, A Life in The Air, has many interesting stories.
Special Event: None
Commercial Pilot Ground School (CPGS)April 25, 26 & 27, 2014 Registration deadline April 17 before April 8th - $155* AAAA member, $175* non members after April 8th - $200* members and non members Instructors are being selected for the CPGS Instructor Refresher Course
The Landowner Relations seminar will be the afternoon of May 17 at Balloon Fiesta office. Registration forms will be available soon.
Our M arch 4 Happy Hour moved to Oak Tree. Oak Tree donated $103 to AAAA from the Happy Hour. Thank you Oak Tree for hosting our group with less than 24 hours’ notice since Boston's did not have a liquor license. You are always very welcoming to our community and we appreciate it! Our next Happy Hour will be at Il Vicino on the Westside. April 1st. Il Vicino has been an amazing supporter of AAAA with numerous gift donations over the past 2 years. A very special Thank You to all our members for their wonderful donations for the annual raffle fundraiser. W hat an amazing collection of ballooning memorabilia! The raffle would not be a success without the generous donations from YOU!
The T-shirt with the "Balloons of AAAA" on the back and your personal balloon on the front are selling fast. W e have 25 spots sold after just 2 events. T-shirts and Things will send the first 25 customers who send in their artwork a $15 gift certificate towards their next purchase with Tshirts and Things. Please send in your artwork or a photo of your balloon if you paid to participate to Email your files to both: ways-means@hotairballooning.org & tshirtsandthings@aol.com. If you only paid $5 you can send in the file in this format:.cdr (CorelDraw), .ai (Adobe Illustrator), .eps (Encapsulated PostScript - PhotoShop), .svg (Scalable Vector Graphics). If you paid an additional $15 to format your photo you can send in: a picture, .JPG (all formats included .JPEG, .JP2 and .JPX) - please submit with 300 dpi or higher if possible, .GI, .PNG W&M is also working on the sale of Polo and Henley shirts in both M en’s and Ladies sizes. Look for details soon. A big Thank You to all of our past and returning Corporate Sponsors. You allow AAAA to be the best ballooning organization in the world (unofficially). Thank you so much for your ongoing support to our community. If you are a returning Corporate Sponsor and have not mailed in your Corporate Sponsor form please send in your information and advertising for the roster and Cloudbouncer. Save the date: Isotopes night for AAAA Tentative date of August 3 at 6:05 headphone giveaways!
None
Last month’s event winner Gerry Graff called a Multiple Judge Declared Goal task with all balloons launching from Balloon Fiesta Park and choosing either Balloon Fiesta target #4 or a target in the empty lot across from M olina Health Care. Kelli Ballengee, Sam Bradshaw, and Dan & Beth Talbert volunteered to be our scorers and recorded 16 pilots as they scored on one target or the other. Craig Pendleton was 3rd with a distance of 3’- 5”, Keith Lutz was a close 2nd at 0’- 8”, and Keith Takach took 1st place with a throw of 0’- 7”. Thanks to the generosity of our members, we raised $127 for Luggage for Kids. http://luggageforkids.org/ Next Flying Event Our next flying event is Saturday, April 12 in Rio Rancho. Registration begins at 6:15 am and Pilot Brief at 6:45. Scorers are needed to help with this event.
I want to thank you all for my 4 years serving on the board for AAAA. It truly has been a great time, sometimes more stressful than others, but wonderful. I started in Crew Development and had such a great time, and saw such great things in the future of our club, I decided to run for President as my Crew Development term came to a close. Serving as your President for the last 2 years, I have seen growth from our club, not only in membership count, but also in technology. We worked hard as a board to update the website, which is still a work in progress, bringing the club into the new generation of social media and technology. During my term we also saw a change in the Cloudbouncer, bringing that into a new format and emailing options. I know that there are still a few members, who prefer to have a paper Cloudbouncer to read, and I don’t blame you, sometimes it is better to have the ability to go back and reread the articles or information. I want to thank all of the members whom I sat with on the board throughout my two terms. I think we all strived to come to an understanding that we were here for you, as our membership, only to make the best decisions possible. I encourage each of you to volunteer, even if you don’t have a lot of time, every little bit helps. You may have an untapped resource or skill that could benefit the club. Maybe you are having surgery and will be home for 6 weeks with not a lot to do… don’t be afraid. Volunteering always sounds scary to begin with you have to ask yourself: Can I make this commitment? How can I benefit AAAA? What can I do to make a difference? Think about it… like I said, every little bit of help makes the difference. Start small, join a committee that is only short term, like Nominations or help the secretary when it is time for renewals. Without our members where would our club be? I look forward to assisting our new President Craig Pendleton with the changing of the guards. I will still be around, sitting on committee’s and helping fellow and past members with anything that I can. If I don’t see you at AAAA, I hope to see you out flying! Thank you for all of your support and encouragement, Mike Garcia AAAA President 2012-2014 Crew Development 2010-2012
TOP GUN March 2 day event was cancelled due to the winds. Thank you to all the pilots and crew that came out to try and fly. Thank you Alan Cannaday and Ray Bair for being our event directors. Thank you to our scorers.
Instagram Photo Contest: Beginning with the December Jingle Bell Rally AAAA members, crew and passengers will be encouraged to post their favorite Flying Event pictures via Instagram using the hash tag #AAAAPhotos. Submissions will reviewed and fan favorites will be recognized at the following General Meeting. For info on how to set up and use Instagram go to http://instagram.com/
April's Top Gun event will be Saturday, April 19th. Meeting at AIBF offices. Registration at 5:45am with briefing at 6:15am. Mark you calendars!! Rio Grande Classic May 23 - 26, 2014 Pilots applications are available on the website at Rio Grande Classic.org Deadline for applications is April 15, 2014.
CAMERON BALLOON SALES Need consultation, information or quotes on a new balloon. Call Beth Wright-Smith at 604-2865. pilotschool@lobo.net. Website: www.airborneheat.com and on Facebook
Dear Friends, Thank you for letting me serve you as your Special Events Coordinator for the past three years. You all are so fortunate to have a club with so many members that span generations of ballooning enthusiasts. I feel that our club, with it's diverse population has been going through growing pains in the past few years. That being said, please remember that we are a ballooning family and need to stick together through thick and thin, don't take for granted the support system you have here. I will miss it greatly in Colorado. Two weeks before my beloved grandfather passed away this last July 4th, he sent me this poem please share with everyone you know, consider this in your life endeavors, as it becomes more difficult to navigate these days...... "All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten" by Robert Fulghum Most of what I really need To know about how to live And what to do and how to be I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top Of the graduate school mountain, But there in the sand pile at school. These are the things I learned:
Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life Learn some and think some And draw and paint and sing and dance And play and work everyday some. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, Watch out for traffic, Hold hands and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Wonder is what we give to everyone around us involved in ballooning. I hope to continue my friendships here, repair damages and hurt feelings I have caused, and hope I made a difference in our special community. Congrats to Charity, know that I will make every effort for a smooth transition for her. <3 Colleen Johnson
ADVERTISING APRIL Events
RATES
7TH – Flying Events & Ways and Means 6pm 8TH - AAAA Crew Development 6pm 12TH
– Flying Event Rio Rancho 0615 Reg 0645 brief. 14th - – Ed Committee 6pm
Full Page……$110.00 Half Page…….$55.00 Quarter Page..$28.00 Eighth Page…$14.00
14TH – Board Meeting
Classified Advertisements $2 per 50-characterline; prepaid only
22nd – General Meeting
All prepaid advertisements
Top Gun. Refer to the Top Gun Web Site
25/26/27 Commercial Pilots Ground School
May Events 5th- Flying Events, Ways and Means meetings 6pm 6th – Crew Development 11th - Flying Event – Balloon Fiesta Park. 19th - Board Meeting @ Balloon Fiesta Office, 6pm
23rd-26th - TOP GUN Rio Grande Classic.org 27th – General Meeting @ Balloon Museum 6:30
“All advertisements must be prepaid with a Credit Card. The deadline for advertisements is the third Friday of the month. Email advertisements to Beth Wright-Smith pbtsmith@lobo.net An invoice will then be emailed as well as payment instructions.”
APRIL GENERAL MEETING
Watch our website and facebook page for the Speaker this month .
.
PILOT TRAINING/DPE From the most experienced instructor in the Southwest! Call
Beth Wright-Smith at
Airborne Heat . 505-604-2865 or email, pilotschool@lobo.net. FAA approved Part 141 school; flexible schedules. Awarded the contract to instruct FAA personnel. Designated Pilot Examiner-call for your checkride! Also see www.airborneheat.com and like us on Facebook
AAAA on the internet www.hotairballooning.org
CLOUDBOUNCER A MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE ALBUQUERQUE AEROSTAT ASCENSION ASSOCIATION AND EDUCTION FOUNDATION P.O BOX 90160 ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87199-160
WINDTALKER 505-891-1733
FIESTA WINDTALKER 505-821-7300
LANDOWNERS EMAIL COMMUNITY-RELATIONS@ HOTAIRBALLOONING.ORG
CLOUDBOUNCER EMAIL ADDRESS CLOUDBOUNCER_EDITOR@CO MCAST.NET
AAAA P.O. BOX 90160 ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87199-160