The Good Lord smiled with benevolent beauty upon Sunday's airmen. They came from far and near, winging their way through the cold, clear blue ocean of air. From Winnetka and Selma, Lake Village, Morocco, Crawfordsville and Pennville, they touched wheels to the runways of Bunker Hill.

Friendly folks from towns and cities, villages and hamlets, the Flying Farmers of the middle west brought their planes, their wives and their children. They came from communities I had never heard of, to mingle with those we knew from Mentone, Churubusco, Warsaw, South Whitley and Nappanee.

My two "eaglettes," Kenny and Jerry, who like swimming better, flew down with me. Tightly clutching last summer's swim trunks, they promptly fell asleep as we circled for altitude. I presume they dreamed of swimming pools and "cafeteria dinner out,'" for smiles were on their faces all the way. The monotone of the motor anesthetized them just as it will do in an automobile, left me in pleasant solitude to drink in the glories of the winter.

 

An all-too-short thirty minutes found us circling Bunker Hill. The former naval base, built for war, had succumbed to the impact of peace and progress. What a sight!

At the invitation of Bill Renshaw, Flying Farmers from Illinois and Indiana had responded with a vigor that only these clanish airmen can muster. Double rows of civilian airplanes, painted all the colors of Joseph's coat, stood geometrically on the ramp. There were Cubs and Aeronacs, T-crafts and Cessnas, Luscombes, Ercoupes, Stinsons and Swifts. Only an occasional AT-6 reminded you that just a few short years ago, a might fighting arm of our nations was building here. Now the modern warriors of food, were using the same tools--airplanes--to speed their production, lighten their duties.

We received a friendly greeting from Mr. Evans, peace-time operator of the flying portion of Bunker Hill. With genuine rural neighborliness, he drove us to Joe Karston's marvelous swimming pool, farther down on the base.

My two little seals, flopped and slapped, pushing me in once, had a thoroughly enjoyable time. Spectators watched from a dry balcony as we swam in mid-summer comfort. The temperature outside was 15 above zero!

The restaurant people who operate Bunker Hill's cafeteria, were caught short and astounded at the turn-out. To our regret, we didn't leave the pleasures of the pool until three o'clock, had to eat what was left, which wasn't too bad.

Toward evening the light inexpensive planes of the Flying Farmers began to edge from the parking ramp, buzz busily off the giant concrete runways-winging their owners homeward anywhere from twenty to two hundred miles distant. Back to the battle for food to feed the hungry peoples of the world.

I had the feeling watching them--sincere, honest, hard-working, progressive, smiling, unafraid and confident--that if any peoples of history could measure up to the task ahead--they could do it!

For your evening fun, I'm reprinting a list below of those who registered Sunday from Indiana and Illinois. I can't vouch for the spelling of all the names, for they signed the register about like most of us sign our check. No one but our long-suffering bank-tellers can read them. Look the list over, how many do you know?

Harold Svenson, Karl Smith, Harland Waymise, Gurney Metzger, Mr and Mrs. Doyle Brunson, Mr. and Mrs. Eldon Floyd, Ralph S. Yarling, Arthur E. Beek, and Mr. and Mrs. John M. Rutledge, of Elwood; Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Shunk, Mr and Mrs. Dale Nellans, Mr. and Mrs. Allen Herendeen, Mr. and Mrs. Carl Zolman, Frank J. Meredith, Mr. and Mrs. George Craig, and Mr. and Mrs. John Teel, of Mentone; Virginia and Clarence Hadley, Sheffield, Illinois; Virgil Hicks, Edward and Nancy Ziegler, of South Whitley; Bob Hoover, Lois Banty, Dave Molack, Hartford City; Mr. and Mrs. John Stahly, Nappanee; Roy McAlexander, Davey McAlexander, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Dissoway, Mr. and Mrs. R. R. Conley and Carol, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Latimer, Peanut McEwen, Charles Jacobsen, Sheldon, Ill.; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Creighton, Mr. and Mrs. Tay Hess, Pam and Paige; Bill, Kenny and Jerry Mollenhour, Bud Case, Max Weirick, Don Forney, Claude Harmon, Warsaw; Mr. and Mrs. Bill Renshaw, John E. Bauer, Stewart A. Gandolf, Indianapolis; H. O. Shaffer, Churubusco; Carol Rinkenberg, Bradford, Illinois; L. A. West, Huntington; Harold Luckey, Wolf Lake; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Forbes, Art Grise, Jesse W. Armey, Logansport; Loretta Keyes, Russel Keyes, Wateska, Ill.; Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Johnson, Joseph L. Rickets, Herbert Frederick, G. I. Pinkerton, Frankfort; Mr. and Mrs. David Friday, Hartford, Mich.; Charles Vaughn, M. DeWitt, C. J. Handy, Dr. and Mrs. L. R. Rutherford, Anderson; Mr. and Mrs. Carl E. Haggerty and daughters, Brookston, Ind.; Alfred Wayne, Parker, Ind.; James E. Owen, Selma, Ind.; Milton Bourne, Pennville, Ind.; Roy McNickle, Gene Miller, Lafayette; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pursey, Mr. and Mrs. Carle Forbes, Brownsburg, Ind.; Mr. and Mrs. Joe Bolen, Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Serefeton, Knox; Lewis Penn, Howard Austin, Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Joyce, Camden; J. B. Zollman, Manson Jacoby, William Terry, E. K. Harvey, Walton, Ind.; Harry N. Rohrman, Clarence J. Rohrman, Schererville, Ind.; Ralph Jessup, Allen Carey, Carmel; Milo Enocks, Dunkirk; Bill Pussifall, Donald Lambkin, Portland; Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Richardson, Sidell, Ill.; Oscar Clodfelter, Earl Sutherlin, Russelville, Ind.; Frederick Ungel, James T. Kramer, Forest, Ill.; Dr. and Mrs. J. J. Arnold, New Castle, George and Edwin McCormick, Harry L. Kitzelman, Muncie, Mr. and Mrs. Russell L. Bruner, Max C. Gould, Dr. Robert A. Warner, Mrs. Robert Cornell, Crawfordsville; Ralph Hazen, Swayzee; Riley Thimler, Royal Center, George B. Darrs, Morocco; Karl M. Kuster, Lake Village; Kent Jackson, Carl Jordan, Renessalaer.

Flying can be wonderful!

Warsaw Daily Times, Mon. Jan. 26, 1948

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