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It's Not Always About The Flying

339A

Well Known Member
The one thing Deb and I have learned in our eight years of flying 339A, is that the RV is more than just a vehicle for transportation. We've made many good friends as a result of this hobby. On that note, Deb has always been a big fan of the autumn season and while at LOE this year, we bemoaned the fact that we hadn't had a hangar movie night in quite a while. Gary made a suggestion to do something for Halloween. Like Dracula on a plate of warm liver, Deb seized upon this idea and set about making plans for a Halloween-themed hangar party. Welcome to the first annual Mills/Zilik "Hangar-ween" Bash.

We had a great response to our invitation with a total of 31 adults, 3 kids, and a dog in attendance. This included current builders from the Denver and Colorado Springs area, some non-aviation friends, and two of our favorite out-of-state fly-in fiends (I mean friends), Jim "Jimmy B" & Vicki Baker.

So from here on out I'm just gonna let the pictures speak for themselves. I think they will convey the GREAT time everyone had.

Gary and I were tasked by the party planner with various set-up details.

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The movie viewing area. As Halloween flying movies are hard to come by, we broke from tradition just for the night. Although ghosts do fly!


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Deb setting up the "Meat Head" platter.

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The guests begin to arrive -- some by car and some by plane.

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9A builder John Armstrong came as "Uncle Si" Robertson and his wife, Kim, as Edward (Edwina?) Scissorhands. Great job on the costumes, guys!

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Yours truly dipping into 7 builder Ron Duren & girlfriend Sheryl's tasty Halloween punch -- note the added special effect.

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Show-stopper of all costumes was Colorado Springs 7 builder Sean Blair, whom I call "Rivet Head." This HAS to be among the top five VAF hat sightings ever, topping even our underwater SpongeBob.

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Rivet Head explaining the finer points of building to Wolfman and Biker Dude.

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More to follow ...
 
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Hangar-ween

Meat Head in all his gory glory by Debra Mills.

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Shrunken head cider by Debra Mills.

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Someone must've lost a few fingers while building.

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Salty Bones with marinara by Sean & Diana Thomas.

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Devilish Eyeballs by Kim Armstrong.

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Caprese Eyeballs by Mike & Anetta Rettig.

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Spooky Seven-Layer Taco dip by Jim & Vicki Baker.

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Jack Skellington cupcakes by Kim Armstrong.

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Purple Monster Cake by Hannah Friedrichsen.

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Seasonal Brew Basket

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The guests made short work of devouring this ghoulish Boo-ffet.
 
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Hangar-ween

Co-hosts/hangar lords Gary and Carolyn enjoying dinner.

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Guests enjoying dinner.

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Our daughter, Cassie...little girls are sugar and spice, right???

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To set the tone, we had seasonal music playing whilst the classic movie Halloween ran in the background, sans audio. Our feature presentation was the 1984 flick Ghostbusters. Still a favorite almost 30 years later.

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The party is over and the hangar is almost back to normal.

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We just want to thank everyone for attending and bringing all the yummy themed dinner creations. Deb had so much fun with this that she's already planning/scheming next year's event! :eek:
 
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Scott and Gary,
That looks like a great party. I wish my wife and I were in town so we could have been there. I love all the foods and how they were decorated. What fun. Thanks for the pictures!
 
Good times!

Scott and Deb...Gary and Carolyn,

Thanks for hosting such a great party. I sure had a good time. The decorations, food, atmosphere and everything were terrific.

Scott, I couldn't agree more.....this adventure we all share goes way beyond airplanes. I've made so many new friends since getting into this years ago. It definitely continues to be one of the things that improves the quality of life.

BTW...the rivets weren't too tough to remove from my face...whew!
And, "Meathead's" image will forever be seared into my brain when I go for cold cuts. Incredible creativity, Deb.

Thanks again!!!
 
not only a top ten vaf hat sighting but a top ten rv thread. great lookn snacks too! boo. :eek:
 
Awesome Indeed

Kim and I can attest to the great hospitality provided by Deb, Scott, Carolyn, and Gary. The decorations set the mood, the food was outstanding, and a movie in a heated hanger with an airplane in the background was icing on the cake. We had a great time and have really enjoyed meeting members of the RV family. As Si would say “That’s a fact Jack!”



John & Kim
 
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Thanks for a fantastic time at Hangar-ween!!!

I'll provide a link to my blog post for my detailed write up and pics of the event, but I just wanted to share some additional info here that I did not share in the blog.

Being that is was also my son's birthday, and that he also loves our movie night events as much as I do, he decided to bring his girl friend along to share the experience. You have to keep in mind that this is a person that is completely unfamiliar with airplanes and pilot-types, and so she was a little apprehensive and a little uncertain about what to expect. BTW, thanks to all for singing happy birthday to the kid!

Anyway, I did my best while driving to the hangar to explain the "basics" of who we are and what we do and why we do it. To make a long story short, on the way home after the party she thanked me several times for inviting her to the event, and she repeatedly commented about how nice and pleasant everyone was, and what a great group of people I am associated with.

I just smiled and said "your quite welcome," because I knew that in just one short evening she had come to understand what I have known for a long time now - what a great bunch of folks it is that makes up this RV community! Now I just have to see if I can get her in an airplane!

Here's the link
 
Definitely your best hangar movie night yet! Thanks for hosting...Sheryl and I had a great time and were amazed by the creativity and work that went into the party.
 
Awesome Time!

Thanks so much for putting on a great party. My daughter Amelia (almost 2) is the one in the ladybug costume. She kept going over to Gary's plane, saying "Airplane!" and wanting to touch/climb up on it. Gary was nice enough to oblige, and she had a great time moving the stick and watching the ailerons move. She even called for Mommy to come sit in it with her.:D

Although she did have a few bad dreams about the Stay Puffed Marshmallow man that night (ended up sleeping in bed with Mommy), she had a great time, and kept talking about airplanes on Sunday. You guys definitely pulled off another great hangar night! Lookiing forward to the next one.

P.S. Sean, your "Rivet Man" costume was awesome. I also liked the couple costumes (i.e. Soap and Scrunchie/Loofa).
 
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