Share the jumpers experience!

Festival Vice Chair John Murphy, a jumper, writes:

Brethren,

You are all aware that the Tandem Parachute Jump was postponed from the 5th July to the 27th July. This time the weather was good enough for the jump to proceed. We had a total of 11 Tandem Jumpers but unfortunately only 10 could make the 27th. Jon Pinkney is still to take that leap of faith and this has been arranged for the 23rd August at 2.00 pm. If you are available to turn up and support Jon, we are sure he would appreciate it.

Well, what a day we had on the 27th July. Ten took that leap of faith and 10 landed safely. The support from family, friends and brethren from our own lodges was fantastic. This was led by our own Provincial Grand Master, W Bro David Chambers and of course the Festival Chairman W Bro Martin Eggermont. Thank you again David and Martin. I would also like to thank John Rees and Chris Thomas who took a lot of photos on the day. Can I also take this opportunity to thank everyone else who came along to support all 10 jumpers to make this such a memorable day. I personally have not stopped smiling. Brilliant experience.

All 11 Tandem Jumpers worked extremely hard to raise donations for the Festival. The total to date has exceeded £8,000, what a fantastic amount, which will go a long way in helping our brethren and families in need.

There are many brethren, family and friends who have donated to see all 11 of us to take that leap of faith out of a perfectly good aeroplane, too many to list, but can I ask all brethren to pass on our sincere thanks to friends, family and brethren from their own lodges for the amazing amount of money we have raised. It just goes to show that we do care about our brethren and families who are in need and require the assistance of the Masonic Charitable Foundation.

The names of the 11 brethren who jumped on the 27th July or to jump on the 23rd August are detailed below. Out of all the 11 Tandem Jumpers, what I didn’t expect is for someone aged 81 years of age to take that leap of faith.

Congratulations to:

• Ray Chapman for showing that age is just a number.
• John Murphy – Falcon Lodge No. 1416.
• David Johnson – Peace Lodge No. 3936.
• Justin Milburn – Peace Lodge No. 3936.
• Stuart Younger Cooper – Dundas Lodge No. 7970.
• Tony Stevenson – Hazel Grove Lodge No. 6542.
• Chris Clay – Lennox Lodge No. 123.
• Ray Chapman – Helmsley Lodge No. 7075.
• Dave Tunstall – Alexandra Lodge No. 1511.
• Mike Coates – Ridings Tablers Lodge No. 9586.
• Jimmy Kerr – De La Pole Lodge No. 1605.
• Jon Pinkney – St John of Bridlington Lodge No. 4434 – Jumping on the 23rd August, 2.00 pm.

   

I am sure you will all be wondering when and where you can view the photographs and videos. Chris Ansell our Communications officer, has uploaded videos and photographs, of which there are numerous, to the Provincial and Festival Websites. So please take a look and you never know, you may just fancy taking part next year.

As this event has turned out to be such a success, yes, we will be repeating it again next year. We already have 4 brethren that have indicated they would like to do the Tandem Jump, so if you are interested, please let me know and will add you to the list that has already started. There will be a flyer emailed at the start of next year to remind everyone and this will detail the date. We will of course look to lay on a barbecue after the jump. Details will be on the flyer.

A massive last thank you to all those that jumped, well done, all the supporters who turned up on the day and last but not least everyone who donated towards us raising in excess of £8,000. A big thank you also to all those who helped make the (pre) jump barbecue on 5 July a great success. See pics above. The weather precluded the skydiving on the planned day, but a happy band of 60 enjoyed a superb afternoon chez Chris Thomas with beer flowing and burgers sizzling. Special thanks go to  Simon Simpson and Ashley Tyson for the magnificent burgers, Andy and Pam Hinchcliff on the bar, Bill and Julie Glanville for the cooking, Chris and Sue for the venue (and the Salmon!) Des Mckenzie and John Murphy for the raffle.  The raffle raised over £250 which was shared between Festival29 and a local stroke support charity. We also thank Wold Top Brewery for a generous beer donation!