This past June, we sent two of District IX’s stellar young people to Camp AMA in Muncie, Indiana. This brings the total of campers from District IX to five.
In 2015, Matt Carlson from Omaha, Nebraska, was our first scholarship recipient. Toby Ray, from Denver, also won an online scholarship in 2015. In 2016, your donations paid for Austin Axmann from Kansas City, Kansas, to attend Camp AMA. In 2017, we had enough contributions to send both Morgan Young from Denver, and Ethan Thibault from Rapid City, South Dakota.
Morgan was sponsored by the Jefco Aeromodel’ers in Denver. Here is Morgan’s take on her experience.
“Camp AMA has brought me many opportunities and has also bettered my experience with flying. I had awesome instructors who taught me more about Precision flying, acrobatics, and flying in harsh wind. I had peers who taught me about being more independent with preparing my airplanes, at field repairs, and showed me how to fly FPV quads (which I loved).
“After a long day at the airfield, I remember being able to tell if one of my peers was in that hotel room because it smelled like hot glue, burning foam, and solder. The last day of camp was a bittersweet day to me in the sense that I had to say goodbye to all my new friends and awesome instructors, but I get to look forward to next June when I come back for another week of learning and fun!
“I came to the camp as one RC pilot, and came out a better RC pilot with lots of new friends.”
Here’s a short summary from Ethan, who was sponsored by the Rapid City Propbusters.
“My experience at Camp AMA was very interesting. I had a lot of fun, but most importantly I learned. I learned to get out of my comfort zone. When flying becomes too easy and isn’t a challenge, you aren’t doing it right. Flying is something that you are never going to quite perfect and should never be easy, if you challenge yourself.
“At Camp AMA, I was pretty far out of the comfort zone I had been in at home. Being around all these kids my age was a real experience. I got to meet instructors and kids my age who were much more experienced in flying and when I made friends, they taught me and helped me get better.
“Camp AMA made me become more proficient in my flying abilities.
“Thank you to all of the members who made donations to help me get there. Special thanks to my local club, the Rapid City Propbusters, for their donation to me. It is an experience I will never forget.”
Remember, these scholarships are not an AMA promotion. This idea came from me sitting down with some of you and brainstorming about what we could do in the district. The money that sent these kids to Camp AMA comes from the generosity of District IX fliers and clubs. I thank all of you who made it possible during the past three years.
Please plan for you and/or your club to make another donation for 2018. Send your check to me, and I will put it in our District IX scholarship fund at the AMA. Send a donation to Jim Tiller, Box 828, Custer SD 57730. Make the check out to the AMA and put District IX Scholarship Fund in the subject line. Thanks in advance.
Also, send along names of possible candidates from your club.
Without thinking, I told AMA Foundation Director of Development Mandee Mikulski that I would help out with Pies in the Sky, a Giving Tuesday Facebook Live promotion for the AMA Foundation last November. Little did I know what it would entail.
As the donations rolled in, I was part of a group of AMA officers who took a pie to the face whenever a new level was reached. As it turned out, more than $3,000 went to the AMA Foundation. I was glad to be a part of it.