AMA Charter
#468
Gordan Nenno's
Look Back In Time
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What does the James Webb Space Telescope and Gorden Nenno have in common? Each of them have given us a look back in time to the very origin of where we started. The JWST can look back to the very beginning of the universe as we currently understand it, and Gorden Nenno has given us a treasure trove of documents dating back to the very origins of our club. Gordon, or Gordie as his friends called him back then, has donated to the club, RAMS newsletters, member lists, and other documents from the late 1960’s through the early 1970s. Gorden was voted into the club on April 16th 1970 and has held various leadership roles throughout the years.
To put this in perspective, I was 10 years old in 1970. I remember we would hear the distinct sound of 2 stroke RC engines from Peachland Elementary School a couple blocks away. We would all hop on our Schwinn bikes with banana seats and pedal down to the school yard to watch a couple pioneers fly RC planes and chase each other with control line rigs. The unforgettable smell of nitro was rich in the air and it was not uncommon to have 10 or 20 spectators watching the aerial spectacle.
On one occasion, a 70 odd inch balsa wood RC plane must have broken a control rod or something because it rolled over and came straight down nose first into the sidewalk about 10 yards from us exploding into thousands of pieces. We thought that it was the coolest thing we’d ever seen, only exceeded by the time Chadha Franklin came down the street with a pellet gun swinging a dead rattlesnake over his head like a lasso. The snake was discovered in someone's backyard and Chadha was dispatched to deal with the problem. Back in the day we didn’t wear seat belts or helmets and parents said things like "Be careful, those things bite… make sure you're home by dinner". It was a kinder simpler time back then… well, maybe not so much for the rattlesnake… but I digress.
For more information click on the links below:
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A Comprehensive RAMS History by Warren Boudrie
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