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Life, legacy of pilot celebrated
Ninety-Nines founder is feted in Santa Paula
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Photo by Juan Carlo Mendoza
Gina and Jerry Garcia of Ventura, along with Isabella Seale, above right, of Santa Paula check out a Gipsy Moth on display for Gwen Dewey Day on Sunday at Santa Paula Airport.
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Photo by Juan Carlo Mendoza
Sally Knight of Santa Paula has her picture taken next to the Gipsy Moth on display for Gwen Dewey Day. Dewey, who died last year, was the last surviving founder of the Ventura County chapter of the Ninety-Nines.
It's a shame that there wasn't a Gwen Dewey Day at Santa Paula Airport while Dewey, a renowned aviator who died last year at 93, was still alive.
"She would have loved the attention," her son, Mike Dewey, said during Gwen Dewey Day on Sunday. "She was a big ham."
Dewey was the last surviving founder of the Santa Paula Ninety-Nines, now known as the Ventura County chapter of the Ninety-Nines. On Sunday, the Ninety-Nines held a celebration of her life and legacy, and of female pilots in general.
The Ninety-Nines is a worldwide organization for female pilots, and both the international president and regional governor of the group were on hand Sunday.
To mark the occasion, the Ninety-Nines displayed aviation memorabilia, raffled three flight training scholarships in Dewey's name, and served barbecue to members and guests.
They also had new and vintage aircraft on display, including a Gipsy Moth similar to the one Dewey first flew in 1936.
Apart from the 100-degree-plus heat at the airport, the event couldn't have gone better, said Marion Nauman, chairwoman of the Ventura County Ninety-Nines.
"We've had a steady stream of people coming by, but they just don't want to stick around too long with this heat," she said.
Dewey was one of six women who started the Santa Paula Ninety-Nines in 1973. The worldwide group dates back to 1929, when it was founded by 99 of the top female pilots in the world.
Today, there are about 80 women in the Ventura County group, and it's been growing steadily for the past decade, Nauman said.
When Dewey started flying in the 1930s, aviators were a fraternity of sorts, but Santa Paula Airport has long lost any hint of an old boys' club, Nauman said.
"The guys out here are great," she said. "If I were a wimpy, quiet little female, it might bother me, but I'm not."
Posted by Nosmo_King on September 3, 2007 at 8:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I attended the event. It was great. the Slideshow on the computer about Gwens' life and family was interesting and touched your heart.
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