Pat Gorham D-556

[howardwhite 6]

Ted Strong has informed me of the death, in late February, of Pat Gorham, D-556. Pat was an esarly jumpmaster and instructor at Orange,MA, SPC. A big guy, he taught me spotting by sticking my helmet outside the Norseman door and cranking it around in the direction he wanted me to look.

Pat was also the first Hasbro model for GI Joe: see

http://projectpi.skydiveworld.com/GI_joe.html

Pat and his wife Irene lived in Bradenton, FL after retiring from a long career as a power lineman in Massachusetts. The Gorhams ran The Inn at Orange one season.

If you remember and would like to help memorialize Pat (or any other old-time Orange jumper), you might be interested in the "Buy a Brick" program for the plaza at the new Jumptown Orange building.

See:
www.jumptown.com

for details.

HW

[ltdiver 3]

Very interesting read. Thanks for sharing.

My thoughts go out to Pat's family and wish them comfort in this trying time.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[skr 1]

Yikes, another one!

I've been losing about two a month for the last
six months and now here's the third in the last
few days.

I remember being in freefall near him in 1964
jumping out of a Norseman into the Inn.

I remember the sight of all those jumpers in
freefall over endless miles of woods and trusting
that since he had spotted that he knew where
that 3 square inch clearing down there somewhere
was.

Skr

[howardwhite 6]

Skr..

Lots of others thought highly of Pat, so much so that an annual meet is planned in his memory every June at Orange. Scheduling conflicts make it unclear right now when this year's meet will be held, but Judd Raymond, another early Orange jumper, is raising funds for a Waterford crystal bowl trophy and Lew Sanborn, Ted Strong, and Nate Pond are likely to be there.

More will be posted at:

www.jumptown.com

and I'll post here when a date is set.

HW

[howardwhite 6]

More on the Pat Gorham meet...
(Even if you're not interested in the meet, you might take note of the planned auction of Hasbro action figures...maybe you could send a proxy bidder..
What follows is from Judd Raymond (C3178) and his wife, Jane, who are instrumental in putting this together.
---
On Saturday, June 17th, Jumptown will be hosting the first annual Pat Gorham Memorial Accuracy Meet in memory of long-time jumper Pat Gorham.
The three-round meet will start at 9:00 AM and will consist of two events, classic accuracy and sport accuracy. Three official USPA judges will judge the meet.
Competitors will jump in either the Sportsman class (less than 500 jumps) or the Masters class (500 jumps up). Three rounds of accuracy in both events will determine the top three finishers and SIM Competition rules will apply with the exception of manual measurements for sport accuracy.
Trophies, Free Jumps, and/or Other Coveted Prizes will be awarded to the top three jumpers in each event and class. The class champions will have their names engraved on the Waterford Crystal bowl which has been donated by the Gorham family and will be held in perpetuity at Jumptown.

Pat was the original full-grown model for the first G.I. Joe action figure and following the competition and awards ceremony, an auction of vintage, limited edition and out-of-production G.I. Joe action figures will be held to raise money to fund next year's meet.
The auction will include the ever-popular and impossible-to-find FAO Schwartz Golden Knight figure and many other pieces such as the Airborne Ranger - HALO, the TIME-LIFE Guadalcanal limited edition figure, a USAF Special Ops figure and the G.I. Joe Masterpiece Edition Soldier. All of the figures up for auction are complete and in mint condition and most are in unopened boxes.
They make great gifts for skydivers of all ages. Or you can just hold on to it and let it appreciate in value. There is one on ebay going for nearly ten thousand dollars.

We'll wrap it all up with a Jumptown barbecue, courtesy of Diane and Gary Pond
There will be a $10.00 registration fee and we encourage everyone to
register in advance so that we can plan accordingly. Please send registration to Jumptown - 80 Airport Street -Ste 10 - Orange, MA 0l364 or contact Diane Pond with a credit card number at manager@jumptown.com or 978-544-5321.
We hope to see you Old Timers at this event and encourage all jumpers, regardless of experience level, to join in the fun and competition in memory of a great friend of skydiving in New England. We need you all to make this event a success.

----
HW