VOL. 14 NO. 12
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2009
50 cents
News Stolen - an outside portable basketball goal and net has been stolen from the Boys and Girls Club in Laurel. Page 3 CaSino - The Delmar Council (Del.) held a special public meeting last Monday during which it decided to cancel the second public hearing on the proposed casino project. Page 5 HealtH - Nanticoke Health Services fifth annual Tribute is November 5. Page 10 leaDeRSHiP - A Seaford couple that owns a business in Laurel are training for leadership. Page 12 PoliCe - Armed robberies in Seaford and Delmar are under investigation. Page 27 tonY WinDSoR - Communities mourn loss of two charitable individuals. Page 47 eDitoRial - Help our soldiers know that we appreciate their sacrifices. Page 50
Sports Football WinS- The Laurel and Delmar varsity football teams picked up home wins in last Friday’s high school football action. Coverage begins on page 39. StaRS oF tHe Week- A Delmar football player and a Sussex Tech cross country runner are this week’s Laurel Stars of the Week. Page 45 College SPoRtS- This week’s Star features college stats from Western Sussex grads who are playing Fall sports in college. Page 40
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Charles Haddock and his tandem jump partner Scott Regino after the jump.
HomeComing queen - Senior Lauren Hitch was crowned this year’s Homecoming Queen for Laurel.
At 93, Laurel man leaps into the ‘wild blue yonder’ By Tony E. Windsor When Charles Haddock, of Laurel, learned that an elderly couple had made a sky dive with a crew from the Laurel airport, his mind started churning. He found out that the couple, a man who is 91-years-old and his wife who is 90-years-old, were the oldest people to ever parachute jump in Laurel. Now, Haddock felt he was being challenged. At almost 92-years-old, he had to break the local record. He had never sky dived, but felt a need to give it a try. So, on Sunday, Oct. 11, Haddock donned a flight suit and parachute and headed into the wild blue yonder. Haddock is no stranger to flying. As a matter of fact, he received his private flight license ad commercial aircraft training at the Laurel airport back in 1946. He became an active performer
of aerobatics, flying planes in aerial loops and rollovers as a form of entertainment. He wore a parachute during his flights, but never had the occasion to use it. On Sunday, Oct. 11, Haddock and other prospective “divers” gathered to take a brief, last-minute training session on how best to leave the plane and float down over the western Sussex County area. Haddock and his trainer, Scott Regino, of “Skydive DelMarVa, who himself has clocked over 600 sky dives, headed for the airplane that would take them up as high as 21 and a half miles above the ground. “It took 20 minutes to get to the altitude that we needed to be at, which was about 13,500-feet,” Haddock said. “Scott told me he would yell a signal to let me know when to jump. I told him, ‘No. Just push me out.’” The two leaped from the plane in a tandem jump and did a 9,000-foot
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free-fall that lasted about 60 seconds. “That was the scariest part of the whole thing,” Haddock said. “We were free-falling at 120 miles per hour.” At about 5,000-feet, the chute was opened and after a significant “yank” the two began what Haddock called “a delightful trip” back to the ground. “When that chute opened it was just delightful,” he said. “I could see the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay at the same time. The countryside was beautiful and it was such a peaceful, pleasant descent.” Haddock said Regino maneuvered the chute in a way that allowed the landing to be very comfortable. So, was the thrill of the jump a catalyst for more of the same in the future for the 93-yearold? “It was a thrilling experience, but there will never be a second one,” he proclaimed. Continued on page 3
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