dj-seus 0 #1 May 12, 2004 Here's an account of this passed mother's day for ya... I guess it all began 2 months ago with me sitting in my boss's office at KCLQ FM on my very first day on my new job... It's a hot-country station in Lebanon, Missouri (very close to Lake Ozark), and I was to be the new On-Air Talent... My boss was going over some basic questions that they either didn't or couldn't ask during the job interview process... He asked me if I had any hobbies or interests, and a huge grin broke across my face - I love it when people give me an excuse to talk about skydiving... I'm like one of those dolls with the strings hangin' out the back - start me up, and I'll go for hours... Perhaps that's why I ended up in radio! So as I describe my home DZ, I watch a grin just as big as mine spread across the boss's face... He didn't want to jump (what a wimp) - but he DID have plans for me and my weekend habit... After contacting Scott from Quantum Leap in MO, we came up with the Throw Mama From The Plane contest - we gave away a free Mother's Day tandem jump to one lucky mom who won the drawing... Crystal Kirby ended up being the lucky 'flying momma' - and we were all pleased to hear how enthusiastic she was about making her very first skydive... But the best part of the contest was that I would be broadcasting live on-the-air up in the jump plane, interviewing the jumpers and narrating the whole experience live to literally hundreds of thousands of listeners in 13 counties.... So after 2 months of planning, Mother's Day finally arrived, and it was a beautiful day - winds were a little gusty for my taste, but certainly not enough to keep us from our live broadcast... high temp of 89 degrees, and mostly clear skies... the dropzone was busy, but not totally packed... I managed to get a practice jump in before the live broadcast, to check the reception of our equipment... unfortunately, the cell-phone and earbud microphone setup that I had planned on using cut-out at 2000 feet... so we switched to Plan-B... The broadcast load came up at 2:00 pm... I landed from my practice jump, and got right back up on the next load with Crystal, our winning-Mom, and another recipient of a free jump courtesy of KCLQ, our Stunt-Boy Timmy... Crystal was very excited, and not overly nervous... Timmy, however, was obviously a little on-edge... I could tell because he said, "Dude, I am REALLY on-edge here, man..." --- Go figure... :) So our Plan-B was using a two-way radio, broadcasting a 'countdown' as I dive out the door, leaving the radio in the plane as I go... We hooked a mic up to the other two-way on the ground, and fed the whole shebang to the radio station via satellite... The atmosphere on the plane was pure gold... People were asking me questions about the station, and I was asking them about their jumps of the day... As we broadcasted live, it was like a party in the air... I gave a hammed-up play-by-play of the 4-way ahead of me, and then gave my own countdown, before signing off with "CIAO BABY!" and diving out the door... As I left, I turned to see a plane full of smiling faces and the wide-eyes of two people about to jump out of a plane for the first time in their lives... Priceless.... All the landings were beautiful, and the broadcast went off without a hitch... in fact, it turned out damn good, if I do say so myself... As the sun sank down below the horizon in an orange blaze of heaven, the light breeze touching my face reminded me of every little reason why I skydive... I could feel it down to my soul... As Crystal and Timmy got into their vehicles, and drove off, I could see their perma-grins pasted on their wind-blown faces... I had the satisfaction that I had a little something to do with a memory that will stick with them forever... I had the satisfaction of knowing that this was a memory that will never leave me, either... PICTURES are online at www.kclq.com - click on "Momma" - as you can see, Stunt-Boy Timmy kinda 'forgot' to spread his arms and legs as they were going down the hill, so they tumbled a bit on exit... but Barry, the tandem master, regained control of things very quickly... As always, the videographers at Quantum Leap are top-notch, and the pics are excellent... I'm the guy in the bright yellow suit... (our station color is bright yellow)... I also have recordings of the broadcast, and if anyone is interested, I can upload MP3's... Thanks for reading this long post... blue skies and smiling faces -dan (aka Jay Stevens) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dj-seus 0 #2 May 12, 2004 http://www.kclq.com clicky for ya Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flygirl03 0 #3 May 12, 2004 I was there for this gig. WHAT FUN. I only wish I had been on the load that threw "mama" out I listened to the live feed and they were having a great time. Wonderful Mothers day gift for Crystal!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ earthbound misfit Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fast 0 #4 May 12, 2004 Very Cool~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kai2k1 0 #5 May 12, 2004 The pics are awesome. Wish I could have been there. And YES, Everyone at Quantum Leap ROCKS!!! There's no truer sense of flying than sky diving," Scott Cowan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meathorse 0 #6 May 12, 2004 Great pics and a great day! Glad y'all had such a blast. You guys coming back for Father's Day? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dj-seus 0 #7 May 12, 2004 throw papa from the plane! i love it! ;) HERE'S audio - http://www.djseus.com/throwmamainternetclip.mp3 i still get chills down my spine when i listen to it... ciao -dan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flygirl03 0 #8 May 13, 2004 what's good for mama is good for papa, right sounds like a great idea !! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ earthbound misfit Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
