Hurricane Helena has forced a very late cancellation of our Annual Convention (9/25/2024)
We gave it our best shot but had to cancel the convention almost before it got started. Because of the rapid formation of the hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico the Coast Guard station advised us that they could not provide us with the tour we had arranged for the first full day, Wednesday. Then midmorning with the path of the hurricane predicted to pass near our area the Evacuation Order came for the Clearwater Beach area. This forced us to call it off for safety reasons as the hotel informed us that everyone would have to evacuate the Hotel Facility. They said it would take a couple of days after the order was lifted for the facility (including the kitchen) to get back to normal.
The Convention Committee is planning to get together soon to reschedule the event. They will be announcing the revised plan in a few weeks. We will get the word out to the membership in plenty of time to make your plans.
Great weather this year at Sun’ n Fun (4/24/2024)
What a great time we had at the “Spring Break for Pilots” event Sun’ n Fun at Lakeland Linder Airport, Florida. The weather was cool with a light breeze and the skies were mostly clear. A larger number of vendors and exhibitors were there this year (just like in the old days). Only on midday Thursday did we have any exciting weather when a front flew through and gave us some rain for about 30 minutes. Didn’t slow things down much and the USAF Thunderbirds still flew there exciting show as planned.
The Silver Wings Fraternity clubhouse was open, like always, as the hospitality center for all Silver Wings Fraternity members in attendance at the show. This year there were some additional folks there as we opened our hospitality center to the United Flying Octogenarians (UFOs) as our special guests. Their President “Brownie” and his wife “Skip” were at the clubhouse for most of the week to meet our members, observe our operation, and to greet the UFOs who came by to check us out.
Recent new policy (1/18/2024)
As of now, the Fraternity is discontinuing printing and mailing out the newsletter. Future newsletters will be distributed electronically via a link sent to email addresses to all Active members.
For the past several years the cost of printing and mailing the newsletter has continued to increase. As a way to cut the total cost the Fraternity began sending the newsletter to members who have provided an email address unless they indicated that they wanted a paper copy. This experience has proven to be a reliable and cost effective way to distribute Fraternity news, but still required us to pay for printing and mailing to those members who desire paper or have not provided us with an email address.
The Fraternity Executive Committee has recently determined that the numbers of members who do not have an email address has decreased to a small number and now is the time to make this change.
Happy New Year!! (1/1/2024)
It is that time of year again: New Year Resolutions, trying to remember to write 2024 on checks, and renewal of annual dues to Silver Wings Fraternity. Renewal is as easy as clicking Renew Your Membership, filling out the online form, selecting “Pay Now” button and pay using a credit card.
Renewals may also be done by printing out the renewal form, filling it out and mailing it and your payment via US Mail.
Hope to see everyone at Sun’n Fun this spring.
Bob Flynn gone west! (12/15/2023)
If you have been to Sun’ n Fun during the last many years and passed by the Ham radio station you probably saw Bob Flynn. Bob was a volunteer at Sun’ n Fun for many years and was a member of Silver Wings Fraternity (#14161) and the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter. Bob was always pleasant, cheerful and helpful. You could have no better friend. He will be missed!
Bill Johnston (9/6/2023)
It is with deep regret that we learned of the passing of Bill Johnston (#14101) on September 1st. He was a member for more than 14 years and for most of that time served the Fraternity on the Board of Directors. He held the position of National Secretary for many years and he helped with the production tasks of the Slipstream newsletter. He was also a member of the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter where he served as the Treasurer. Bill’s friendly style of leadership will be greatly missed. We have all lost a great friend.