What does it take to host the Nats? Is it hard to run the Nats? Why would someone want to run the Nats? How do you volunteer to run the Nats? All questions I am sure people would like to know the answers to but are afraid to ask. Before answering these and describing what goes on behind the scenes at the Nats, a quick Public Service Announcement (PSA): Volunteer from time to time at local and national events. Without volunteers, these events will dry up and eventually go away. Please help out.
Mark Gerber, head judge Steve Smith, and Joan Cox write scores. Clipboard-less Frank Donnelly and John Saunders observe.
I think I am proof that it does not take any real experience to run the Nats—just some basic organization skills, familiarity with the order of activities at the Nats and a willingness to reach out to others for help and guidance. In early 2022, PAMPA was without an Event Director (ED) for the Nats. Samantha Hines expressed interest in running things, but there were some conditions related to school that needed to be considered, and time was running out. I decided I would throw my name out there and see what happened. I helped Dennis Adamisin back in 2017 as assistant ED, so I was not a complete newbie and was given the two thumbs up to run the 2022 Nats by PAMPA. First order of business was to get my Contest Director certificate, which was straightforward with an open book quiz at the end. Lots of great general knowledge learned with that process. What prompted me to volunteer for the position? I did not want to see a year go by without a Nats, and that is how it looked to me in early 2022.
Our CLPA Nats is really a total of 9 events. The 3 main official events are Open, Advanced and Sr/Jr in which our national champions are determined. The Walker Cup is a smaller event in which the Open, Senior and Junior winners compete against each other to determine the overall champion for the event. On the unofficial side of things, we have the feeder events of Beginner and Intermediate where people can test their skills against others of similar ability on the road to Advanced and Open. There is also Old Time Stunt, Classic, and Nostalgia 30 in the unofficial group where older designs can be brought out and flown for enjoyment and competition. The CLPA ED is responsible for the official events and making sure that there are volunteer EDs for the unofficial events. Having a list of who is needed to support all the events makes things easier early in the year when recruitment is going on.
Tabulation Team for 2025 (front to rear): Kathleen Patterson, Maggie Blanchard, Colleen Gilbert.
People are needed to get everything to run. The volunteers that are needed for all events are tabulators, judges, score runners, weigh in and pull test people and pit bosses when possible. As mentioned in the earlier PSA, step in and lend a hand to keep these events moving along if asked. Often the unofficial EDs do the recruiting for their events, but it is good for the Nats ED to stay in touch with them to help fill any gaps that may arise. Trying to recruit at the Nats has proven to be a bit troublesome, but people will step in as needed.
Some of the items that need attention in the months leading up to the event while the recruiting is going on include:
John Blanchard was pit boss and did pull testing. Orestes won the contest.
When the event starts, any gaps in preparation will become apparent but everything can be resolved. There are lots of helpful folks out there and those that have been through the process to provide guidance. The early big items for the Nats ED are touching base with the AMA crews, the unofficial EDs, confirming the field layouts, setting up the trailer, laying out the pull test stations in the pits and confirming that all the volunteers are in place. The pilots’ meeting is where the flight order is established as well as the weigh in and appearance judging, providing the information needed to complete scoresheets. From there it becomes pretty routine, arriving early to get things prepared for the judges warm up flights and having the judge’s clipboards ready for each day. The program takes care of tabulation, with the help of the tabulation team entering the scores from all the flights, and the subsequent flight orders as things progress.
