Skydive Delmarva :: 2006 News Archives

Max Schwartz and Sam Firouz Graduate AFF

11.26.06, On Saturday Max Schwartz graduated AFF after a successful level 7 jump with Instructor Caleb Boczon. Then on Sunday Sam Firouz graduated after a successful level 7 jump with Instructor Tom Timmons. Way to go, guys!

Caleb Boczon and Max Schwartz

Sam Firouz and Tom Timmons

Grant Spurrell Makes 1500th Jump

11.19.06, Grant Spurell made his 1500th jump on Sunday. To celbrate he did a four way with JoAnn, Ed, and Bruce with Gregor taking pictures. Congratulations, Grant!

Grant's 1500th Jump

Grant's 1500th Jump

Heather Conley Graduates AFF

Caleb Boczon, Heather Conley, and Larry Robinson

11.18.06, Heather Conley graduated the AFF program today after a successful level 7 dive with Instructor Caleb Boczon. Congratulations, Heather!

Joe Bradshaw and Andrew Church Graduate AFF

11.11.06, Joe Bradshaw and Andrew Church graduated the AFF program today after a successful level 7 jumps. Joe jumped with Instructor Kathy Kunkowski and Andrew jumped with Instructor Joe Manlove. Way to go guys!

Joe Bradshaw and Kathy Kunkowski

Andrew Church and Joe Manlove

Thomas Brady Graduates AFF

Thomas Brady and Joe Manlove

11.10.06, Thomas Brady graduated the AFF program today after a successful level 7 dive with Instructor Joe Manlove. Congratulations, Thomas!

Javier Hernandez Graduates AFF

10.21.06, Javier Hernandez graduated the AFF program today after a successful level 7 dive with Instructor Caleb Boczon. Congratulations, Javier!

Javier Hernandez and Caleb Boczon

Skydive Delmarva Jumpers Take on Bridge Day

Scott Regina's Famous 'Going to Church' Exit

10.21.06, Skydive Delmarva was well represented at Bridge Day 2006. Mike Smith made his first two BASE jumps and did great, expertly navigating his canopy to the small landing area both times despite having to kick out of several line twists on his first jump. Christine and Gregor Weeks did two jumps together with Gregor surprising Christine with a gainer on their second jump. Donnie Heckel and Dave Obloy pulled off one of the craziest jumps of the day -- a Mr. Bill with Dave hanging on to Donnie. Scott Regina pulled off a spectacular gainer exit. Bert Brooks also had a great jump. Congratulations to all the Delmarva Bridge Day Jumpers on a safe and fun weekend.

Dave Kelly Earns A License and Ken Wilhide Graduates AFF

10.15.06, Ken Wilhide graduated the AFF program after a level seven jump with instructor Joe Manlove. Dave Kelly earned his A license after a successful checkout dive with Coach Coffey. Way to go guys! Blue skies!

Dave Kelly and Gary Coffey

Ken Wilhide and Joe Manlove

Larry Robinson, Todd Supple, and David Bradford Make Milestone Jumps

10.15.06, Larry Robinson made his 100th jump on Saturday. Larry did a 7 way round at sunset for the special jump and pulled in place. On Sunday, Todd Supple made his 100th jump and David Bradford made his 500th jump on a 13 way round. Congratulations to all!

Larry's 100th Jump

David and Todd after Their Milestone Jumps

Team Slots and Tabs Wins Mike Schultz Skydiving Skills Fun Meet

10.15.06, Team Slots and Tabs beat three other teams in the first Mike Schultz Skydiving Skills Fun Meet. Team Slots and Tabs consisted of JoAnn Dzenis, Thalia May, Bruce Roberts and Grant Spurrell. The meet challenged participants in exits, formation skydiving, landing pattern and landing accuracy. Slots and Tabs truly came together as a team to post points in every event. Team 404 took first in team accuracy. Team 404 members Mike Brunson and Brett Holmberg took first and second respectively in individual accuracy and Grant Spurrell took third. Congratulations to all the teams who particpated and thanks to Mike Davidson and Grant Spurrell for organizing the event and to Jim Burns, Gary Coffey, Doug Kunkowski, and Damon Steele for judging and videoing!

Team Talented Mother F'ers

Team Slots and Tabs

Team 403

Team 404

Caroline Cheshire Makes 100th Jump

9.30.06, Caroline Cheshire made her 100th jump on Saturday. For the special jump she did a six way hybrid formation with Christine, Lisa, Brett, Patrick, and Mikey Boz with Gregor doing video. Congratulations, Caroline!

Caroline's 100th Jump

Caroline Gets Pied

Team Talented Mother F'ers Wins 4 Way Scrambles

9.30.06, Team Talented Mother F'ers earned 10 points on their two dives to beat out four other teams in 4 way scrambles. Team TMF's consisted of Mike and Dana Smith, David Bradford, and Todd Supple. Congratulations to all the teams who particpated and thanks to Mike Smith for organizing the event!

Team Young and Old

Team Talented Mother F'ers

Team 2 Chicks 2 D*!@s

Team High Gear Low Gear

Team Floundah

Lamar Davis Graduates AFF

Lamar Davis and Dave Matchett

9.27.06, Lamar Davis graduated the AFF program today after a successful level 7 dive with Instructor Dave Matchett. Congratulations, Lamar!

JoAnn Dzenis and Ed Short Make Milestone Jumps

9.10.06, JoAnn Dzenis made her 100th jump and Ed Short made his 300th jump on a 14 way. Congratulations, JoAnn and Ed!

JoAnn and Ed

JoAnn and Ed's Jump

Mikey Boz and Bruce Roberts Make Milestone Jumps

8.29.06, Mikey Boz made his 100th jump on Sunday. Mikey celebrated by doing an 8 way jump. Bruce made his 500th jump on Saturday on a 9 way. Congratulations, Mikey and Bruce!

Mike Gets Pied

Bruce Gets Pied

Saturday night's beer tasting was a great success with over 20 kinds of beer to sample.

13 SCR/SCS Awards Earned

8.29.06This past weekend (8/26-8/27/06) RW Concepts organized skydives designed to allow jumpers the opportunity to earn their Star Crest Recipient (SCR) or Star Crest Solist (SCS) awards. Four successful 8-way or larger star formations were completed which resulted in a total of 13 awards being earned! The award recipients are as following:

Congratulations to all the award winners and a big THANK YOU as well to all the jumpers that participated in these skydives and helped make them a success.

Andrew Mongeon Graduates AFF

Caleb Boczon and Andrew Mongeon

8.05.06, Andrew Mongeon graduated the AFF program today after a successful level 7 dive with Instructor Caleb Boczon. Congratulations, Andrew!

JoAnn Dzenis Earns A License

JoAnn Dzenis

7.31.06, JoAnn has fought through injury and made a spectacular comeback to skydiving this year, and on Monday she earned her A license. She has made remarkable progress in her Relative Work and canopy skills. Way to go JoAnn!

Ice Luge a Hit

7.29.06, Manifestor Robin and Packer Ben celebrated their birthdays in style with the rest of Skydive Delmarva on Saturday night with an ice luge party. Click here to see more pictures from the party.

Robin Davidson and Ron Hudson

Travis Blundell Graduates AFF

Travis Blundell and Dave Matchett

7.19.06, Travis Blundell graduated the AFF program today after a successful level 7 dive with Instructor Dave Matchett. Congratulations, Travis!

Dave Obloy Makes His 400th Skydive!

7.9.06, Dave Obloy made his 400th jump today building a successful 8 way hybrid formation. Congratulations, Dave!

SCR/SCS Weekend Successful Despite the Weather

6.24.06, Mike Smith organized a successful SCR/SCS skydive today. Here's his summary of the weekend:

"Just wanted to announce that even though we got skunked by the weather this weekend with low overcast clouds and torrential rains we did still manage to get one SCR/SCS load up on Saturday.

"We built a beautiful 9-way star which was complete by 9000' and that we flew till breakoff. Participants in this were Mike Smith, Grant Spurrell, Ed Short, Chris Osborne, Charles Diehl, Dave Matchett, Mike Davidson, Bruce Roberts, and Kevin Grishkot.

"Congratulations to Charles Diehl and Mike Davidson who earned their SCRs on that load and to Bruce Roberts and Kevin Grishkot who got their SCSs for docking 8th and 9th respectively!!

"We will also be scheduling a makeup SCR/SCS Awards Camp later this summer so stay tuned for a date and details on that...."

Sergey Viter and Tom Timmons Make Milestone Jumps

6.18.06, Sergey Viter made his 1000th jump on Saturday. Sergey celebrated by doing a 9 way tracking dive. Congratulations, Sergey!

Sergey's Gets Ready For His 1000th Jump

Sergey Gets Pied

On Sunday Tom Timmons made his 7000th skydive. Way to go, Tom!

Tom After His 7000th Jump

Tom Gets Pied

Click here to see more pictures from Tom's 7000th jump!

Wynne Breed Graduates AFF

Wynne Breed and Robin Davidson

6.16.06, Wynne Breed graduated the AFF program today after a successful level 7 dive with Instructor Kathy Kunkowski. Congratulations, Wynne!

Vlad Merker Graduates AFF

6.10.06, Vlad Merker graduated the AFF program today after a successful level 7 dive with Instructor Joe Manlove. Congratulations, Vlad!

Vlad Merker and Jumpin Joe

Gil Sharon Graduates AFF

Kenny Everett and Gil Sharon

5.29.06, Gil Sharon graduated the AFF program today after a successful level 7 dive with Instructor Kenny Everett. Gil kept coming back despite having to wait out the weather on many days. Congratulations, Gil!

Mike Davidson Flies in the American Flag for Memorial Day

Skydive Delmarva Staff Attend Bill Ottley's Memorial Service

Skydive Delmarva Staff at Bill Ottley Memorial Service

5.13.06, Skydive Delmarva Staff Members Mike Schultz, Mike Davidson, Robin Davidson, Brian Kunkowski, and Kathy Kunkowski are pictured here outside of the new USPA headquarters after attending a memorial service for Bill Ottley. Bill, who died on December 1, 2005, was a true pioneer in the sport of skydiving. He made his first jump in Orange, Mass. in 1958. He graduated from Yale University in 1950 and served in the Korean War. He was a licensed pilot of planes and hot air balloons. He served as USPA's executive director for 14 years and helped develop the AFF program.

Skydive Delmarva Says Goodbye to Wardie

5.6.06, Dozens of people came out to Skydive Delmarva to say farewell to Travis "Wardie" Linton. There were two memorial jumps for Wardie. During the first jump, organized by Mike Schultz, Wardie's wife Diane released his ashes during freefall. Diane was jumping in tandem with Mike. Grant Spurrell organized a 15 way formation for the second memorial jump which occurred at sunset.

Wardie's Ashes. Photo by Thalia May.

Wardie's Ash Release Dive. Photo by Doug Kunkowski.

After the jumping was over everyone on the dropzone dug into the delicious assortment of Mexian Cuisine to celebrate Cinco de Mayo while Chowderfoot provided the entertainment.

Wardie's Sunset Memorial Jump. Photo by Doug Kunkowski.

Chowderfoot Plays Delmarva. Photo by Gregor Weeks.

Click here to see the rest of the pictures from the weekend.

Tim Herman Graduates AFF

Tim Herman and Tom Timmons

5.5.06, Tim Herman graduated the AFF program today after a successful level 7 dive with Instructor Tom Timmons. Tim completed Levels 4-7 all in one day. Congratulations, Tim!

Colin Galle and Briton Yonge Graduate AFF

5.4.06, Colin Galle and Briton Younge graduated the AFF program today completing levels 3 through 7. That's 5 AFF jumps each on a Thursday. Way to go!

Colin Galle and Kenny Everett

Caleb Boczon and Briton Yonge

Hope McKercher Graduates AFF

Dave Matchett and Hope McKercher

5.3.06, Hope McKercher graduated the AFF program today after a successful level 7 dive with Instructor Dave Matchett. Hope had a long battle with Mother Nature, and then proceeded to take out the wind sock on her first solo jump. Congratulations, Hope!

Rachel Streusand Graduates AFF

Kenny Everett and Rachel Streusand

4.29.06, Rachel Streusand graduated the AFF program today after a successful level 7 dive with Instructor Kenny Everett. Way to go, Rachel!

Dana Smith Makes her 300th Jump

Dana Smith Preparing for Jump 300

4.29.06, Dana Smith completed her 300th skydive on Saturday. To celebrate the jump, she made an all-girls jump with Lisa, Kathy, Robin, and Christine. Congratulations, Dana!

The Committee Makes an Appearance

"The Committee" made a surprise visit to the Asian Night festivities this past weekend and agreed to allow their picture to be taken. "The Committee" is a clandestine and nefarious trio of jumpers who are entrusted with ensuring both the safety and proper jumpsuit fit of all the Skydive Delmarva ladies. However, at this time, the exact identities of the members of "The Committee" remain unknown....

Skydive Delmarva's S&TA Mike Davidson reportedly was not too impressed when informed of "The Committee's" presence. When told of their visit he is said to have remarked, "The Committee can bite me!"

The Committee

The Committee

Click here to see the rest of the pictures from the weekend.

Ryan Carville and Patrick Murray Jump in Spain 3.22.06, Skydive Delmarva jumpers Ryan Carville and Patrick Murray stayed current over the winter break while in Spain. Welcome back!

Ryan Carville and Patrick Murray at Skydive Spain

Great Opening Weekend

3.11.06, Over 60 skydivers came to Safety Day 2006 at Skydive Delmarva. Instructors Mike Davidson, Damon Steele, Tom Timmons, and Joe Manlove gave informative presentations, and Kenny Everett and Caleb Boczon watched as everyone practiced their emergency procedures in leaning harnesses. Free jump tickets were given out to Safety Day participants and free recurrency training was given to those who needed it.

Congratulations to Ed Short who is Skydive Delmarva's recipient of the second annual Chesley H. Judy Safety Award presented to the skydiver who, through example, deed, training, or innovation, had promoted safe skydiving in a substantive way. Ed Short manages Skydive Delmarva's extremely busy packing hangar and maintains an impeccable safety record. Ed also earned his Senior Rigger Rating last year.

Ed Short Receives Chelsey H. Judy Award

Practicing Emergency Procedures

After the Safety Day seminars ended the jumping started and 6 loads went up before the sun went down. Then it was time for beer and pizza provided by the dropzone followed by a raging bonfire.

Safety Day Group Shot

The Season's First Bonfire

Click here to see the rest of the pictures from Safety Day weekend.