to retire in order to parent full time, which is when he was invited to join a club in Lafayette, the Flying Dragons Inc. From there, Bruette worked to bring the Parapokes back to McNeese. In the 2002 season, the group had the opportunity to jump at three games. For the past 10 years, they’ve jumped at every home game, as long as the weather allows it. Currently, the Parapokes have seven members. All of them have been jumping for quite some time: T.J. Middleton, an engineer in Houston, has more than 1,500 jumps; Mike Nugent, who works for the Department of Immigration in Houston, has completed more than 2,500 jumps; Robert Rocke is retired and has jumped more than 6,500 times; Chris Wade of Beaumont has done more than 6,000; and Dewayne Bruette has done more 4,500 jumps in his life. Jimmi Heath, who has jumped about 200 times, is taking some time off with his new baby. The newest member of the team is Dr. Steve Thompson, a criminal justice professor at McNeese. These men are Parapokes because they love skydiving. Bruette makes sure to emphasize they look for a special quality in their team: “Whenever I bring some on in, no matter how bad things are going, they are calm; they cannot panic.�
October 2014
Thrive Magazine for Better Living
www.thriveswla.com
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