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Results of your USPA BOD Elections.

October 31th is the last day to vote. Does anybody know who this guy is?

Copy and paste from USPA President Chuck Akers, without permission. If you are a USPA member and you're reading this, PLEASE VOTE in the board of director elections!!Historically, the voting turnout has been dismal. We need to change that. You can make a big difference! Voting is fast and easy. Just sign in to your USPA account (or first time users can create one) and follow the link to the election section. That's it. You're in. uspa.org. Your choices for regional director will be displayed by your region, and all candidates for the 8 national director positions will be displayed. You can vote for up to 8 national directors. It is important that we all cast a vote. USPA is OUR organization. Our members call the shots - especially at the ballot box. And I include -- Your October issue of Parachutists has all the Candidates information.

Ray Michigan skydiving reunion, August 2014. John Sherman and Pat Works.

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Read it again and believe it later.

Walt Schneider's memorial

If you know you know -- what's the word --

August 1st is the day, after that USPA HQ will have no mercy. Believe me now !

Walt Schneider's memorial will be held on Sunday June 30th at 12:30 at Our Place (the tavern right near the DZ). Let's all go celebrate Walt! Blue skies.

There will be a memorial gathering of family and friends on July 13, in DeLand. The date will definitely be Saturday, the 13th. Additionally, planning a celebration and skydive honoring John Sherman at the PIA Symposium in March, 2025. It's fitting to honor him at the Symposium, as he was one of the founding members of the Parachute Industry Association. July 13th. 5:30 PM. Come celebrate John Sherman's life and accomplishments with Nancy and the rest of John's family and friends, with food and drink, stories and memories, and a memorial jump load.

John Sherman was ARMY

John Sherman Obituary Published by Legacy Remembers on May 9, 2024. Skydiving Pioneer, Innovator Dies at 85 Skydiving legend John Berry Sherman (born Engle) was born February 1939 in Chicago to John E Engle, GM engineer, toolmaker and turkey farmer and Sara Jo Berry (Sherman), NBC fashion editor and radio personality. He was raised first on his father's turkey farm before moving to live with his maternal grandparents in Monterey, TN and eventually to North Attleboro, MA. He joined the Army in 1957, serving in Germany as one of the Army's first LRRPs (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol) for nuclear target acquisitions. There, he made his first parachute jump in 1958. He attended Tennessee Technical University to study engineering but soon found himself engrossed in the folk music scene of Nashville, leading to a stint as a folk musician. An accomplished guitarist, John made his way out to LA in 1961, rubbing noses with budding folk artists such as David Crosby, Peter Paul & Mary, The Kingston Trio and The Smothers Brothers while living and working at a famous LA nightclub called The Troubadour. He met his first wife back in Nashville where they owned the first folk bar and venue called the Third Floor. He eventually settled down in Michigan, working as an engineer for Chrysler Corporation. He was an early advocate for the turn to front-wheel-drive based architectures including his concept for what would eventually become the K-car-based minivan that Lee Iacocca introduced in 1984, a concept for which he was forever proud. In the late 60's, he was reintroduced to skydiving and became obsessed, often leaving work on a Friday afternoon, driving overnight in his custom Dodge van to a weekend skydiving boogie to jump all weekend and hop back in his van and make it back to the office Monday morning. Tired of jumping old, retired military equipment, as was common in the day and already being an accomplished parachute rigger, he began to experiment with equipment design. John invented the first modern "piggyback" harness/container system to be issued a single-unit certification by the FAA. It was dubbed the SST (Super Swooper Tandem, based on a nickname given to John by legend of the sport Ted Strong), which later became the Racer, revolutionizing the sport. As a leader in the skydiving industry, he introduced new design concepts, such as the pull-out pilotchute, main riser covers, anti-line-strip deployment bags, Teflon cutaway cables, the anti-float bag and container concept, the first truly elliptical main parachute, first tandem system with a 3-point drogue release incorporated into the cutaway handle and countless other safety features that have been emulated by other parachute equipment manufacturers. He was a founding member of the Parachute Industry Association, served as Technical Committee Chairman of the PIA, created the first PIA electronic bulletin board system, including the popular "rec.skydiving" forum on the Internet. John was the first U.S. skydiving competitor to Medal in what was then, all of the disciplines of Speed Style, Accuracy and Relative Work, in National Competition. He was instrumental in introducing Relative Work as part of U.S. National Competition, having written the rules for the original 4-way event. He pioneered Ten-Way Speed Star techniques that are still in practice today, designed the first 3-Dimensional skydives, and was largely responsible for the successful design of the first 200 Way World Record Formation as well as many other monumental skydiving formations. John was meet director for the first Thanksgiving Day "10-Man" Meet in 1969, later the "Turkey Meet". Notably, John has been a teacher and mentor to hundreds of riggers who now serve their skydiving communities around the world. He has trained some of the most successful riggers in the world. Virtually every major U.S. manufacturer has trained under Sherman or has consulted him to improve their products and processes. 1987 he started a new company called Decel and was awarded a grant to redesign the Mid-Air Refueling "Probe and Drogue" system used by the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force. John received a U.S. Patent, for the design, which was to become the NATO standard. John lived many lives, more than most, and like a cat, survived many deaths including a car crash in 1964 where he died for six minutes, a plane crash, several parachute test-jumping incidents, a heart attack in 1990, a stroke in 2021, but ultimately met his match with a carton of milk (he loved milk) from McDonalds. John is survived by his wife Nancy, sisters Patty, Marty & Judy, daughters Margaret (Chase), Eliza Beth (James), son Johnny and grandchildren Quela & Thomas.