Arizona Easter Boogie Draws More Than 300 Jumpers

By Rhonda Kaletz, Carol Jones and Ian Durell

This year, when Skydive Arizona in Eloy hosted its annual Easter Boogie, the event proved to be quite busy. Three hundred-plus people made the trip for the promise of “more sun, more jumps and more fun,” and the desert drop zone did not disappoint. After-hours fun included the Swoop ‘em, Ride ‘em and Chug ‘em relay race, a down-home barbecue and music by the Phoenix Valley band Breaking Hank. But the jumping was where the action was for this three-day event!

On Saturday morning, Organizer Terry Gardner and members of Skydivers Over Sixty gathered to set records. On the first jump, the team of 22—Tom Corl, Jeff DeMent, Bill Fridberg, Terry Gardner, Jerry Gleim, Dave Good, Lew Hart, Alice Hicks, John Hicks, Carol Jones, Ray King, Ginger Kuhlman, Tim Long, Larry Reecer, Tom Reiman, David Robinson, Olaf Schistad, Craig Seasly, Dillon Smith, Tom Stokes, Perry Stone and Ed VanDerPas—easily set the Arizona SOS Record for Largest Formation Skydive. Not satisfied with its success, the team went up for its second jump and set the Arizona SOS two-point record. Then on its fifth jump, the 22-way team set the Arizona SOS (and Parachutists Over Phorty Society) three-point record. Not a bad day at all! Videographer John Lyman captured all the record-setting moments. 

In addition, 104 participants and 11 organizers and videographers from nine countries attended the 7th Vertical World Record Tryout Camp to earn a golden ticket to the head-down world record attempts at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinois, in August. On Saturday, three groups jumped from Skyvans and two groups jumped from Twin Otters. The next day, the five groups merged into two to jump from a three-plane formation and a two-plane formation. The weekend was an overall triumph, with the most successful jump being a 64-way built out of a three-plane formation. The camp organizers, endorsed by world-record organizer Rook Nelson, invited 26 participants from the camp to attend the attempts in August. 

Along with all the fun jumps at the boogie and the record action, Steve Woodford’s Fifty and Still Trackin’ (FAST) group, in conjunction with Skydive Arizona, donated $824 to the Testicular Cancer Society after its weekend of jumping. More information on FAST, an organization for jumpers over age 50, and details on how to donate are available at testicularcancersociety.org/fast.html.

Rhonda Kaletz, Carol Jones and Ian Durell | C-36222, D-17918 and D-36866