For the past few years it's become a real chore to find someone to mow our flying field each season. Over those years we've found several different individuals to do the job. Some were dependable, most were not. The main problem was that we could not afford to pay the going rate, which I'm told is about $60-70 for a field the size of ours. What we could afford was $35-40, and that amount didn't attract anyone that was seriously interested in mowing. Even at $35-40 per mowing we were spending about $1000 per year! In the last 3 years we spent almost $3000! At that rate we could pay for a mower of our own in less than 2 years. So at the May 2001 meeting it was decided that we would purchase our own mower, and purchase we did! In June 2001 we took delivery of a brand new "Huskee" mower from the Tractor Supply Company. It's a 20HP(Briggs & Straton), 46" cut, automatic transmission machine. Ralph & Phil will be the 2 main "drivers" of this beast, but any club member that would like to volunteer for an occasional mow would be welcome. Especially at this point since Phil will be down until next season because of his knee replacement. By the way, Phil came through his surgery with flying colors and is on the mend!

The cost of the Huskee was $1500, right at the limit that we set. TSC picked up the tax, which was greatly appreciated! The bad news is that this thing just about wiped out our treasury! We had to close our savings account and had less than $200 in the checking account! A few club members have come through and donated to the treasury. If anyone else would like to donate to help rebuild our funds please send it to the address on our contact page. We've recieved donations in amounts ranging from $10 to $100. Every bit helps!