For those of us that can still remember back to when we began, you'll recall a few Association members objected to having a bottle of alcoholic beverage be the focal point of the trophy comprising the tontine of our group. This was certainly a valid objection, but bowing to the wishes of the majority of the Association members and to military tradition we went ahead with a trophy with booze as its central feature. Well, the Oldest Committee never forgot those that objected! So, this year we had a perpetual plaque constructed to serve as an alternative to the trophy. In the future, each new "Oldest Photomapper" will be given the choice of receiving either the trophy or the plaque. Most of you have probably noticed the plaque in the hospitality room. If not, here it is. OK, now that we have this alternative, in MY mind we've removed the last legitimate reason for not signing up for the Oldest Program. Those who just don't want others to know your age don't count as legit! At our ages we should be proud of them and that we're still around! So run, don't walk to the hospitality room after this meeting and fill out a program enrollment form. It's free and only has to be done once!

Now on to the status of the VIPs in our Program; i.e. our Oldest, our former Oldest, and our youngest. George Braceland is still our Oldest. Just about a week ago he celebrated his 92nd birthday. Remember that fact as I tell you that thru the past year he has continued to workout in a gym three days a week, workout at home with his personal trainer two days a week, and jog at a local ball field near his home a couple days a week. In addition he continues to maintain his numerous gardens scattered around his huge property. It is among these that he again grew 120 dahlias of World Class status. Some were nearly eight feet tall and one flower measured 21 inches in diameter. And, in addition to his physical conditioning and gardening, this year he branched out into video production. He sent me a video of his gardens that was replete with music, images fading in and out, brilliant colors, and all the bells and whistles of a truly professional production. I have put a still picture of George with some of his dahlias in the hospitality room. If you would want to see his video and have e-mail, let me know. I'm sure he would be happy to e-mail it to you. I am amazed at what George does; and recall, he is legally blind and suffers from a significant hearing loss.

Our second oldest and former Oldest, Bill Sapp, did not have a great year physically. Both he and his wife have had problems severe enough to put them temporarily in a nursing home. But they are out now and mending. Although somewhat handicapped physically, Bill's mind is as sharp as ever and he too branched out into a new field. He decided to become an author! He had, for a long time, felt that the HIRAN & SHIRAN Ground Station Operators he used to supervise were an under recognized and under appreciated part of the Photomapping business; and he wanted to do something about it. He called me and proposed we write an article in tribute to them and somehow get it out there where all Photomappers could read it. He wanted me to write about why we did aerial electronic surveying and some of the requirements and he'd do the rest, so I agreed. Shortly, however, he called back and said that he was having trouble getting words down on paper and wondered if I would do the writing if he sent me his notes and pictures. He used the excuse of having a leg broken in two places, having to have dialysis two or three times a week, a prostate so big he couldn't pee, and on and on. A likely story, I thought, but I couldn't say no. So, we did it!! I also got inputs from eight other Photomappers. A copy of the article (without the 30+ associated pictures) is in the hospitality room should you want to read it. It's rather long at 13 pages, so if you are short of time just read the numbered paragraphs--which are the interesting anecdotes that provide the flavor of just what life was like on their isolated mountain tops around the world. It is all there: sex, violence, adventure and all that good stuff. If you can't get to it here, it and all the related pictures are on the Photomapper website. See me if you are interested and I'll give you the specific web address. Also, if you are in contact with any former Ground Station Guys would you please call their attention to the article? Bill wants as wide a circulation as possible among them. We hope to get at least something concerning the article in the next Newsletter but can't guarantee the whole thing. The website is your best bet if you want the whole enchilada.

Jimbo Kinter remains our Diaper Dandy. The young lad has continued to perform Yeoman service as Webmaster of the Photomapping History website. He has a lot of capability there and it keeps growing. I was particularly impressed with how quickly he got the whole Ground Station article and the related pictures on the net. It took him only a couple days-and he is still working for a living! In preparing that article, I had collected quite a few pictures---many more than the 30 or so accompanying the article. I pissed-off both his e-mail server and mine by trying to send them all to him at once via e-mail. So after we both caught hell, he and his son, within hours, wrote a slick program that allows the e-mail servers to be by-passed and unlimited size files to be sent. Anyway, Jimbo would like any of you who may have any old Photomapper related pictures lying around to send him copies. And he says "Photomapper related" can be interpreted loosely. Pretty carhops at drive-ins, dancing girls at bars, etc. all qualify. If you went to see them that makes 'em "Photomapper related". He'll take pictures via e-mail (preferred), his new program, postal service, carrier pigeon, pony express, camel caravan or whatever. He's the easiest guy in the world to work with, so call or write him. He currently has 2464 pictures on his site and is begging for more. He guarantees all pictures WILL be posted on the website, so it is a good place for them.

A quick shot of Oldest Program Trivia. This year we got our first two people with the same birth date. Bob Klein and Fred Schrecengost share 23 Aug. 1936. Believe it or not our Charter has a rule that says in this case the person whose last name is first in the alphabetical order will be declared the older; so Klein is older than Schrecengost by fiat.

Lastly, my annual learned tip on increasing your longevity. It is to ignore age and physical problems when considering tackling new and interesting things. George Braceland producing videos on things he loves at 92 years of age and Bill Sapp authoring a tribute to his guys at 90 says it all!!

Gordon Barnes