2010 Recent Photos & Happenings
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Skydive Gan Year End Halloween Party 2010
(photos by Nick Czernkovich, Ashley Hudson, Rachel Piovesan, Michelle Matte-Stotyn & Deb Lovegrove)
Skydive Gan held their Year End Halloween Party on the last weekend of the season in October.
Close to 40 people were in attendance, and everyone had a “Fantastic” time!! As with every year, prizes
were handed out to the best costumes, and this year’s winners were quite the creative bunch!
Shown in the photos above
the prize winners included: 1st place went to Andrea & Dan for their
Sesame Street “Yip Yips” alien costumes!! 2 nd prize went to Pat...a.k.a. "Patricia", 3 rd prize
winners were Frank & Annie as "Grandpa & Grandma!” 4 th prize went to Simon & Steph as
“ King Simon & the Maiden” and there was a tie for 5 th place between - Ashley & Ray as
“The Mexican & Border Patrol" and Michelle & Deb as “The Cougar & the Zoo Keeper!”
Prizes were donated by great Skydiving organizations and manufacturers. A BIG THANKS go out
to SkyVenture Montreal, ParaGear and Freak 'N Suits for their incredible support!!
Before the party Serge carves a pumkin, and Pilot Nick snapped some great pics of party goers costumes!
Dressed up as the "Naked Gnome & the Ballerina!!" it was great to see some familiar faces join us for our party
like Kathy and Mac! Still not sure who Serge was suppose to be in that getup, “Terrorist & Police Officer!”?
Grandpa & grandma get spooked by a Yip, the girls pose for pics and The Mexican chums with “Patricia”!






Mary, Marilyn and Alexandria dress up as the famous and sexy "Charlie's Angles", Cougar snaps pic of Angle
and Chantal & Rach are looking pretty fine! Robin came dressed as the best looking Witch we’ve see and Deb
shows off her Zoo Keeper outfit! Dressed as an injured pilot, blood & all was Will.






We all shared a fun dinner together at the Riverside Bar & Grill in downtown Gananoque with
dance
music provided by the band Tone Kats!






Nick came as a “Hot Dog”, Scott as the Grim Reaper, Mac was hot in a pink tou tou & work belt,
and Ryan was one scary Wolf! Grandpa sings the blues…and Disco Don heats up the dance floor
along with other strange green creatures!!
Gnome & the Ballerina - Charlie’s Angels nabs a Gangster on the dance floor! Female officer arrest
DZO Tom and Scott & Jan are “The Blind Leading The Blind”. Son & Dad duo Ryan & Dave
and ‘The Mexican & Border Patrol Officer”, Ashley & Ray.
Some interesting badges were worn by the ‘Cougar & Zoo Keeper’, like “Hello my name is Pookie-Ackie”
and the one shown above! Everyone had a BLAST on the dance floor, meeting firemen, wolves
and gettng body signatures by Gangsters! Michelle's expression - priceless :)





Nick the Hot Dog writes on Grandpa and the gang shows off their Temptations rendition! Simon
displays his prize pumkin – a splitting image of Serge B in a Halo!! And…yes we saved the best for last…
Guess who showed up in nothing but a bow tie & skivvies !!!!????
Thanks to everyone who came out and celebrated with us. Great costumes, prizes and fun times!!
We look forward to seeing y’all next season…
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PD Flight-1 Canopy Skills Course with World Champ!!
(photos by Deb Lovegrove, Will McCarthy, Simon Gelinas, Shawn Carter and Al Nadeau)




“September Sunrise” -- On day one of the PD Canopy Course,
Al Nadeau snapped these incredible Sunrise pics around the DZ!!
Skydive Gananoque held a PD Flight-1 Canopy Skills Course over 3 days Sept 17-19. Course was given by
fellow Canadian and top canopy pilot, Jay Moledzki from the PD Factory Team. Everyone had a really great
time and learned a ton! Photos above are the 1st Advanced group posing with Jay and doing practice jumps.
Photos on the left are a few more practice jumps, and then pics of the Essentials course classroom.
The Essentials Group students do a little field work
outside with Jay and the 2nd Advanced group
pose for pictures. Photo on the end is
Serge Blouin who designed and cut the swoop path in
addition to doing all the videotaping of the jumps for the debrief sessions!
More group pics were taken after practice jumps and the crowd gathers outside to watch
Canada’s World Champ Jay Moledzki do a jump and "swoop" it in....photo montage of his
jump was provided by Shawn Carter, one of the Canopy course participants.
At the end of the weekend, everyone cheered and applauded Jay for all his hard work as
Deb Lovegrove presented him with a little congratulatory plaque from everyone at Skydive
Gan - for his recent Gold medal wins at the World Championship in Russia.
The Plaque read; "*Congratulations Jay Moledzki* for Winning GOLD for CANADA!! At the 2010 FAI World
Canopy Piloting Championship in Kolomna, Russia August 2010. From all your friends @ SkydiveGan!
Thanks for Keeping Canada on Top!!" - All the course participants truly appreciated his time and knowledge!
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Wow 10-Way right over the triangle!
(Photos by Will McCarthy)
Will McCarthy did an awesome job of photographing the 3pt 10-way a
group of skydivers did out of the King Air right above the airport!
He managed to snap a pic right at the moment they were completing the last
point a perfect round, right in the centre of the airport triangle!! Way Cool !!
"Is it a Miracle? No Broccoli Is!" try skydiving!
If you haven’t seen the skydiving broccoli TV commercial…check it out on YouTube,
it’s pretty funny! http://bit.ly/aNV0Cy Tandem skydivers Melissa and Adam thought it
would be cool to bring along some Broccoli on their jump – we are now talking about
trying to come up with another version of the TV commercial….ideas are brewing!!
Melissa models Skydive Gan T-shirt with the big "warning" label on the back and snaps
a pic while under canopy with Will - while Adam heads up in the plane to also do a jump!
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Stephanie's Dad does a tandem skydive!
(photos by Simon Gelinas)
Gan jumper Stephanie brings her Dad out to do a tandem with instructor Pat Michaud and photographer
Simon caught some great family moments of the occasion. Seated in the plane together, Steph gives her
Dad a kiss on the cheek before she gets ready to do her jump. Simon snaps a photo of her in the door
of the plane before switching his attention to her Dad’s exit.
Fun Times!! Simon gives a thumbs-up for another great jump, and father and daughter are
reunited back on the ground in a big family hug!!
*Sunset Tandem for Ashley*
Photo on the left is Ashley and Ray just before she goes up to to her tandem skydive
around sunset. Andrea, Dan and a bunch of others fill up the seats in the King Air.
Photos on the right is Ashley with Instructor Arno and Tom McCarthy.
Labour Day Boogie - Super Heroes & More!!
Adam and Melissa came out to do another tandem skydive – but this time they
they decided to wear
their “Superman” T-shirts!
Back on the ground there were others practicing their flying techniques, as a plane full of
happy jumpers get ready for take off. A pic was snapped through the window of the plane…
showing the wonderful landscape of the 1000 Islands.
A super hero never looked so good in freefall...Melissa in her SuperMan T-shirt! Back on the
ground she displays one of our “Warning” wavers, and at the end of the day, the beer light is on for
a little Coors celebration! The gang then hits the restaurant for dinner and back at the campfire,
its time for some human pyramids!!
Another Superman costume was out over the weekend, in addition to
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command - who came to do a tandem, oh ya!!
Rachelle’s Spaghetti Dinner & Campfire Faces ;o)
Photo on the left is one of the creative cakes that was given to the DZ to congratulate them on the new plane
(very cool decoration)!! A big THANKS goes out to Rachelle and North who once again prepared a special
spaghetti dinner for the Labour Day weekend! Everyone enjoyed a glass of wine with spaghetti, garlic bread
and cinnamon swirls for dessert on Saturday night.
Time for the evening campfire….and a peek at the many happy faces sharing in the weekend festivities!
Kid Kodak …Will McCarthy snaps pics of campfire faces in and around the DZ
Another successful Labour Day Boogie was had by all
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We jumped out of an airplane 100 times!!!
Dave MacLaurin completed his jump #100 in similar fashion as his son Ryan just months
ago! He did a "Mr. Bill" out of the 206 with instructor Frank Hamel. Launched together they exit
the plane and Dave waits until Frank deploys his parachute before dropping away back to earth!
Dave then opens his own parachute and is photographed under canopy by Dan McAllister.
KaBLAMO!! Instead of getting doused with a cooler full of ice water…the lid to the cooler closed
shut and knocked Dave right off his feet as it hit him!! No harm done…as he got to his feet in a fit of
laughter and was handed a special certificate for completing jump 100!!
Congrats Dave!
Michelle celebrates Jump # 100 in a 12-way formation!
It was jokes, kisses, and a King Air full of friends, as Skydive Gan jumpers piled into the plane to join
Michelle on her 100 th jump. She was happy to take some time out from her packing job to have a little fun!
Photographed by Will McCarthy, it was clear skies and a great day to plan a double pt 12-way formation
for Michelle’s jump. The group exits the plane and got together to complete the 2pts in the skies just above the DZ.
As tradition goes…after 100 jumps you must get pied!! Your options are to run and hide or lie down
and take it…as seen above Michele figured she might as well grin and bare it!! Laying side-by-side
Michelle and Ray (also celebrating his 100th jump) get ready to face their fate. Bring it on....
The best part is you never know what food mixture will end up on your face…lol
Congratulations Michelle!
Ray also did his 100th jump!
A little dirt diving and into the plane! Both Ray and Dan form the number “100” with their hands as they
climb to altitude with photographer Simon ready to grab some shots.
Ready, Set, Go…Don & Ray launch a 2-way base form the door of the plane, as the others dive
out to meet them. Simon gets under the formation to snap a few shots. And, SURPRISE!! Tom
McCarthy moves in to pull Ray’s pilot chute.
Ah ha ha…bye bye Ray waves the other jumpers! Sending his friends a friendly
gesture as his canopy deploys :) After landing he removes his jump suit and
prepares to meet his destiny of getting pied!
Yum, yum…that looks disgusting!! A few raw eggs and ketchup…
HAPPY 100th Ray - Congrats :-D
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Tom McCarthy takes up freeflying!?
Well not really but he did try on one of the freefly suits just for fun…looks pretty
good, you never know maybe he's ready to cross over to the dark side!!
Pilot John's friend does a tandem!
Tandem instructor Arno Heurter takes a friend of one of our pilots;
John Kocsis up for a tandem skydive during sunset.
By the smile on her face I think she enjoyed it!
Skydive Gan Girls nite out....
Posing in front of the new King Air before leaving for dinner, some of the gals at Skydive Gan
got all dolled up and hit the big town of Kingston for some dinner, dancing and good times!
The girls visited some dance clubs, met some interesting people along the way
and had fun posing for a bunch of photo ops.
They danced the night away and had a blast! Sometimes “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!!”
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Freefall student Chantal & friends of Skydive Gan
One of Gan’s new freefall students Chantal is photographed as she goes through her maneuvers.
Congrats Chantal for yet another successful skydive and landing! Ryan, Ray and Lyle are ready to
climb into the King Air, as well as Andrea and Dan. Say Hi to our great pilots Nick and Norm!
Manifest mistress Ashley Hudson is on her way up for yet another tandem with her buddy and instructor
Arno. Her hubby Ray jumps on the load as well and snaps a pic of Tom McCarthy inside the King Air.
Don, Lyle and Simon are happy to climb aboard the new plane!!
Big smiles all around as the jumpers get ready for takeoff in the King Air. LOL…wonder who is flying on his
back with the yellow helmet? Well, by the expression on Dan’s face, he's also wondering, is that on purpose?
Sure it is…that’s Ray just before he went up to do his 100th jump :o) - Pics on the end, some freefly fun!
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THANKS for the NEW PLANE!!
The jumpers at Skydive Gan got together to buy a special congratulatory cake for DZO Tom and his son
Will McCarthy to thank them for purchasing a new King Air for the Drop Zone. As you can imagine the
skydivers are really excited about the new turbine aircraft, and have been waiting a long time to get something
bigger and FASTER to altitude! It has finally arrived and the jumpers expressed their gratitude with a cool
decorated cake and small plane ornament that read “Yay for turbines – Where’s our swoop pond?”
As Sylvie presented them with the cake, both Tom McCarthy and Will were pied in the face
with whip cream and more by Serge and some of the other skydivers as part of the thank
you ceremony – of course simply as a show of appreciation!!
Both Tom and Will were covered in cream and cake…but it must have been exciting for Tom, because
who knows when was the last time he got pied!!?? Hee hee….someone even snapped a pic of him in the
back of the hanger trying to hose of! Robin Saunders, Don Campbell and kids, plus Pilot Nick and Manifest
Ashley were just some of the people in attendance for the King Air congrats ceremony.
Photos above are pictures of Tom McCarthy posing with the new King Air
outside the hanger at Skydive Gan - taken by Will McCarthy and Simon.
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We jumped...and got a certificate too!
Tandem Instructor Don Campbell gives a thumbs up after his jump with one passenger, and then lends a
hand at a few more cheers with the girls, who happily display their jump certificates after their tandem
skydive. It’s obvious they all enjoyed themselves!!
Letting out a yell on landing, this guy was pretty excited after completing his tandem skydive and we’re
not sure if instructor Simon Gelinas is singing or screaming…but the objective is to make lots of noise! :-)
Photo on the right captures a great expression on the female tandem passenger as
she tries to describe her skydive to her friends.
Some great photos of the exit from the plane and the airport below.
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Swoops & No Shirts!
Will snaps a few pics of Frank and Pat practicing their swooping techniques,
and under the yellow canopy Frank thrills the crowd with one of his “blind-man” moves
during landing. Hmmm, funny what the heat will do, Fuzzy Dave decided he’d join the
‘No Shirts’guys for a little basking in the sun J Ya, and my friends ask me (Deb L)
why I skydive? I happily tell them – the scenery is incredible!!
Civic Holiday Tandem Skydives!
So are you ready for a Thrill of a Lifetime??...well these people said yes!
Tandem instructor and videographer Simon Gelinas takes Kristina up for a jump and Arno takes her
friend up. The girls are then reunited back on the ground after landing and give an “AWESOME!!" cheer ;)
Manmeet is all suited up and ready to go for a jump with her instructor Frank. The landing was just
as fantastic as the freefall. Will gets another congratulations for a great ride. And, just when you
thought skydiving jumpsuits were cool….out comes a group of skydivers who think jumping in
their underwear is way more FUN! After all it is a hot summer day right?!
One of Skydive Gan’s new students, Robyn Grenier brought her mom out for a tandem skydive. Will
McCarthy was the
instructor who took her up, while Marilyn and Robyn came along for the ride to do a solo skydive. Everyone enjoyed some
laughs in the plane before Robyn leaps out into the sky! Back on the ground she met up with mom for a little celebration cheer!
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*Hot* days of summer & a car wash!
The girls of Gan decided it was hot enough to wear bathing suits and have a
car wash. Any excuse to get the hose out and stay cool.
Nicole, Michelle, Marilyn and Sam were the car wash babes, and Serge was lucky enough
to get a little suds action when he stepped in to help the girls! Why was the car
wash crew
sitting in a boat on the grass? Your guess is as good as mine…but it looked
like just another excuse to get wet!!
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Smiles on the Ground and in the Air...
Tandem Instructors Frank, Rick and Will take a few more happy tandem customers up in the blue skies
over Skydive Gananoque.
The many "excited faces" of our tandem customers
and jumpers at Skydive Gan!!
(photos by Simon Gelinas & Will McCarthy)
Tandem passenger Victoria says Hi to her mom with a message written on her instructor
Will McCarthy's hand. A snap shot of our pilot Eric through the plane window and instructor Rick
has fun making faces with one of his passengers!
Tandem instrcutors Rick Powell and Frank make a couple of Skydiving customers happy!
Some great plane shots of friends gong up on their first jump. Pat Michaud looks puzzled.....hmmm
should he be jumping yet on his broken ankle? Ryan gives us a “ready to go” signal before
he leaps out the door into a front tuck position, shown in the 1st photo below.
Hugs, kisses and cheers after more successful skydives :)
Fun landings and excited tandem jumpers, are always happy when they are back on the gound to celebrate!
In the photo below, pilot Eric takes some time off from flying to get in a back loop jump out of the Cessna.
The photo on the end is professional skydiver and competitor John McCarthy, getting
ready to head out to Russia to represent Canada in the World Championships
later this month. In this pic he demonstrates some of his “Style” moves over the
Drop Zone at Gan. We all wish you Good Luck John…bring home another medal for us!!
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SARS practice Canopy Formation over Skydive Gan
(photos by Simon Gelinas)
Members of this Military Canopy team won Gold at the 2009 Nationals! They like to come out to
Skydive Gan and do some practice jumps, Simon had a chance to capture some great pics
illustrating their talents - with the scenic landscape of 1000 Islands and the airport in the background.
3-way canopy stack
Always exciting to watch a 2-man downplane
Kara does a tandem skydive & tweets about
it on Twitter to her friends!
She had a great time with tandem instructor Rick!
Photos were taken by Simon Gelinas
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Summer Tandem Skydives & More!
(Photos by Simon, Kate & Will)
One of our pilots Eric Lighfoot, goes through his dirtdive for a 3-way skydive with Sylvie & Al.
Frank swoops Will's canopy... and little kyle "hangs around" in a tandem harness.
Will McCarthy lends a helping hand to Simon Gelinas on landing, and Eric displays his many talents with
balancing a ball. Serge helps with some packing while Simon swoops the grass outside the hanger!
Congrats to New Freefall Student Robyn!
Robyn, (photo on the left) is all smiles as she checks out her gear before going up for her graduation jump.
Two thumbs up from Ashley as she completes another tandem skydive with Arno. Simon & Kate's pup
Ripcord cools off with with a Tim Horton's Ice cap... and always cheerful Frank takes up another
happy tandem passenger.
Rick Powell congratualtes his customer for successfully completing his Tandem Skydive...and a few more
thumbs up from the guy enjoying his ride with Frank.
Handshakes, Hugs and Cheers!!
Great landing... great skydive and happy group pic after a couple of more exciting tandems...
Photo on the end is pilot Eric signaling Simon through the plane window.
Everything is A-Ok!!
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Girls, Girls, Girls...
Who says skydiving is a male sport? At Skydive Gan we have a good number of regular
female jumpers who are just as passionate about the sport as any of their male friends!!
And you can find them here almost every weekend...
The last weekend in June turned out to be a “ GIRLS WEEKEND ”, with some familiar faces and visits from ‘ole
friends! In the photos from left to right is; Michelle one of our new packers, Robin, Shelley and Kate, who is also
one of our regular packers. Then Deb and Robin are shown together as well as our new FF Grad, Marilyn with
her friend. The photo on the end is the always beautiful smile of Samantha. A really terrific bunch of ladies!!
The girls had fun getting together for some pics before going up for their jump. Long time Gan jumper
and past instructor, Robin Saunders has moved back into the neighborhood and is now a mother of two
with (Kallie & Kyle), she took some time out to get in a jump with the gals. Also visiting, and a brand
NEW MOM herself with the addition of her son (Harrison), Shelley Reimer also trained at Skydive Gan
many years ago, and was excited to join Deb Lovegrove, Kate Searle and Robin for a skydive!! We all
had a really great time jumping together again… Thanks Will for the photos and a reminder of
all the fantastic gals we have at the DZ ;o)
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Congratulations to our New Students!!
Photos above are some of our recent graduates from the freefall program; all decked out in his
FS suit is last years grad and one of our pilots, Eric Lightfoot. Then our mother and daughter team,
Marilyn Hill and Mary Guest, and beside them is Tyler Turnbull from
out to all
Eric grabs a photo of Skydive Gan's other pilot John while sitting in the plane, and takes a group
shot of the mother and daughter team with their instructors Mitch and Will before they take off for
another jump. Will McCarthy
snaps some pics inside the plane during the ride up...and happened
to catch Mitch singing or yawning...we're not quite sure(?) on the way up to altitude :)
Student Mary Guest goes through her freefall sequence with instructor Will McCarthy taking photos.
Mary, back on the ground is happy with her jump, and Deb is photographed with Kate & Simon's dog
Ripcord and freinds before they go up on a skydive. Deb also tried to snap some pics of the guys
swooping the field and sort of caught both Will and Mitch on their way down. When Tom McCarthy
heard there were photos being taken he decided to land out in the bowl...to avoid any flash bulbs...LOL
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Brittany's Tandem Pictorial
Plane and freefall photos of tandem passenger Brittany Sheldrick were taken by Will McCarthy, with some
photos done by Frank Hamel. Photos on the right are Dave caught on camera before he leaps out of the plane!
Will captures Tandem Master Rick Powell as he takes Brittany on her tandem jump over Skydive Gananoque.
Brittany snaps photos of her altimeter and the local landscape and airport around Skydive Gan, and
then turns her camera on herself and Rick for a close-up while under canopy!!
Was a perfect day for a tandem, and as shown in many of Brittany's photos, Skydive Gan truly
has some fantastic scenery. Back on the ground she poses with Serge and a friend.
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Kate's Soccer Team in France
Best of Luck to Skydive Gan member Kate Searle, show in this photo with her
Soccer team representing Canada in a tournament taking place in France. We are
all routing for ya, so bring home the trophy girls!!!!
Gan Gang Fun Jumps!
Terry Darling does a sit fly jump with Will and Simon on camera. Frank exits the plane in a back to earth
as Simon snaps a pic, and big smiles were caught on the load with Ray, Michelle and pilot Eric
Photo on the left is Ashley on her way up to do a tandem jump with Will McCarthy and both Ray & Michelle are
photographed by Simon in freefall. Photo on the end shows Mary climbing into the 206 for one of her last tandems
before signing up for the freefall program -- with Simon and Tom McCarthy waiting to get into the plane for a leap!
A pair of blue reflective skydiving goggles lend themselves to some real cool snap shots taken by Serge
Blouin and Simon Gelinas. A photo of Simon is also captured coming in for a landing under canopy.
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Victoria Day Weekend @ Skydive Gan - May 2010
Ryan's 100th Skydive!!!
As tradition goes…once you’ve reached 100 skydives you MUST get PIED!!
Over the Victoria 3-Day Weekend we had gorgeous weather and 2 planes to jump out of!! Ryan MacLaurin’s
also completed his 100th skydive by doing a “Mr. Bill” jump with one of Skydive Gan’s instructors, Frank
Hamel (see the photos on the end). After his crazy backward fall to earth, we managed to surprise him with
a little whip crème and chocolate sauce pie…at least it was tasty :) CONGRATS RYAN on Jump # 100!!
With the great weather we managed to get in a bunch of fun jumps, as shown above with Joel and
Simon sit flying over Gan with Frank on Camera. Rachelle then joined in and the 3 of them practiced
their train exits out of the Cessna 182. Simon also gets a chance to show his skills at back flying.
The start of the season has been kind with lots of blue skies for jumping. In the photos above are;
Al Nadeau, Rachelle Laforge, Will McCarthy on his head and Terry Darling in a sit over the great landscape
of Skydive Gan. The photo on the end shows Will and Arno with Nadine completing a tag team 3-way.
Some more fun pics of Simon and Kate turning points while Sit Flying and Scott Stevens
and the boys exercising a little freefly fun! Frank Hamel also caught these great shots of both the
plane while exiting and Vlad Alexeenko under canopy with a cool sun reflection!
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Skydive Gan exhibits at The Guy Show 2010 in Ottawa!
The Guy Show returned to Ottawa this May at Lansdowne Park and
Skydive Gan set-up at booth at the event to promote the Drop Zone.





Extreme Rush Adventures supplied an indoor Rock Climbing wall that visitors were able to try
and the first participant
to have his head shaven at “The Great Shave-Off” scaled the climbing
wall alongside his brave hairdresser to initiate the kick-off of the event! Sylvie is all straped up and
ready to try out the climbing wall. Michelle & Nadine greeted visitors and manned the booth on Saturday.
“The Great Shave-Off” was an event held at The Guy Show on Saturday - where participants
had their heads shaven completely BALD in support of breast cancer research.
Photos above show some of the “shavees” and Deb & Michelle in the Skydive Gan booth with some
visitors. Other exhibitors at the show included Harley Davidson, Yamaha Motors, BRP, Wilderness
Tours and JED the Mechanical Bull - check out the photos below of both Deb & Sylvie going for a ride!
Dave MacLaurin is photographed in the Skydive Gan booth talking with an eager visitor. Door prizes
provided by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation for the Shave-Off included some really
cool
"Pink"
appliances, and some great gift certificates. Skydive Gan generously donated 2 FREE Tandem Skydives
as part of the fantastic door prizes for the participants, who BTW raised close to $10,000 in pledges last
weekend for Breast Cancer. The lucky winners will be coming out to the DZ this summer to do a jump!!
Many thanks to the Skydive Gan jumpers; Michelle Matte-Stotyn, Nadine Jobes, Dave MacLaurin and
Sylvie Gareau who helped out at our booth this year. They are all *superstars* at promoting the DZ!!
Michelle was also kind enough to donate her time for booth duty at “The Guy Show” in Kingston a
couple of weekends ago…THANKS a bunch guys!!
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Jump 5000th in Pink - A Double Congratulatory Jump!!
Photo on the left is the 4D jump team consisting of Don Gravelle, Don Campbell, Dean McDonald
and Deb
Lovegrove, posing with Chantal and little Alex after they successfully completed their 4-way for Dean’s 5000th
jump!!! Both Deb and Dean are photographed with Chantal... all wearing pink “Jump for the Cause” t-shirts and suit.
On April 11th we did a “Double Congratutory” jump with a previous Gan instructor; Dean McDonald. We celebrated both his
5000th jump as well as his wife Chantal’s success as a Breast Cancer survivor! We originally planned a 9-way formation in
the shape of a pink Breast Cancer
Ribbon…and everyone on the jump was going to wear something pink, but we had to change
the jump to a 4-way “D Jump”...with everyone on the jump
having a name that began with the letter “D” (Don, Don, Dean, Deb).
It was a great success and we send our CONGRATULATIONS to Dean for completing his 5000th jump and *BIG pink hugs*
to
Chantal for surviving her battle with Breast Cancer, she's one tough cookie...we LOVE you BOTH!!
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Opening weekend - tandems & fun jumps!
The opening weekend at the Drop Zone was fantastic!! We had unseasonably *Hot* weather and
enjoyed 3 days of great jumps in shorts and T-shirts :) It was sunny with awesome blue skies
and many came out to enjoy the weather and the jumping.
Dean McDonald came out with his family and friends to share in some fun jumps
and take
a friend for a tandem! As seen in the photos above Jen really enjoyed her jump with Dean!
Skydive Gan Instructor Francois took his girlfreind Annie for yet another tandem jump.
She must
enjoy
them as this may be her 5th tandem. Simon Gelinas joined them on the jump to snap a few photos.
Photo on the left is Annie’s perfect landing after her tandem jump, and the other pics
above are of
a cool tracking dive done by Arno and some of the guys over 1000 Islands Ontario.
Simon was
able to capture some of the terrific landscape and scenery we enjoy out at Skydive Gan!
One of our pilots Ron Taylor (pic on the left), snapped a photo of a visiting plane over the DZ,and
then had some fun chasing him away from “our airspace”!! Simon snaps a few pics of Kate
showing off her new freefly suit in a sit jump over Gan. A visitor from Sweden came down to
spend the weekend with us and get in a few jumps before his trip back home.
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Skydive Gan exhibits at the Great Outdoor Show in N.Y
We set-up a booth at the Great Outdoor Family Expo that was held in Watertown N.Y. in March.
The exhibition took place at the YMCA Fairgrounds close to the Fort Drum Military Base.
It was an excellent show, as we met many of our USA neighbours interested in trying a
skydive. In the photos above Deb Lovegrove had assistance from her friend Christina
Villeneuve who helped hand out flyers and answers any skydiving related questions.
A busy show with a variety of outdoor activities — there were exhibitors from hunting and fishing clubs,
scuba diving, a rock climbing wall, paddle sports, and the latest in ATV’s. There was even a large screen
video game set up by the US Army for everyone to play as added entertainment. The scuba diving club
set up a pool right next to our booth for people to try their equipment. I snapped a photo of a cool wild cat
that was on display in one of the Nature conservation booths. All in all a good show, and we look forward
to seeing our Fort Drum friends come out and do some skydives with us real soon!!
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Skydive Gan Year End Video Party!!
Skydive Gan and some of their friends got together for dinner and drinks over the winter at the ClockTower
Brew Pub in Ottawa, to watch some skydiving videos, world records and Year End tributes by Gan Videographer
Simon Gelinas…everyone had a great time viewing the past two season’s skydiving memories :-)
Simon did a GREAT job editing the double DVD footage of 2 season’s at Skydive Gan!
Thanks Simon for the terrific Videos!!




We reserved a private room downstairs at the Clocktower where we had access to a projection
screen and large screen TV!! A good bunch of viewers turned up for the dinner party and
it was good to see some familiar faces like, Dean, Chantal & Jen.
We also celebrated Ryan's Birthday with a surprise piece of cake and song!



Some of the Gan crew got together the following day for a
Fundraiser Volleyball Tournament
organized by Rina McNairn to raise money for - "Doctors Across Borders" Was a fun time!
The Star players included Michelle, Arno, Will, Nadine and of course Rina herself!