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For your Saturday entertainment …
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Two blowouts, one night
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Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
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Holmgren expresses interest in Browns position
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Singletary update
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Gameblog: Cavs at Indiana Pacers – Here’s to LBJ and Free Throws
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OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
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Will Health Care Reform Pass?
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Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
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Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
for 100th birthday
Birthday celebration is a voyage in the sky
By Jewell Cardwell
Beacon Journal columnist
Published on Friday, Nov 02, 2007
It's great to have a dream.
But even better is to have a dream come true.
Just ask Helen Ruth Thrash, who realized her dream of a lifetime Thursday: a free ride on the Goodyear blimp.
Just snagging a seat on the blue, gold and silver airship makes her a member of a pretty elite club. However, Mrs. Thrash's 30-minute flight helped usher her into super-elite status.
That's because the feisty Hartville resident will soon mark 100 years of living.
The former Helen Cawthon was born Nov. 13, 1907, in Jackson, Ga., and lived more than 80 years in Akron.
The beauty of Thursday's blimp ride is that Mrs. Thrash has plenty of history with Goodyear. She retired from the company in 1972 after nearly 30 years of service. She worked on a variety of World War II contracts — everything from lifeboats to tanks to de-icing equipment.
When her husband, Stanley Webb Thrash, died in 1941, leaving her with two small children to support, she had no choice but to get a job.
She always felt fortunate it was with Goodyear and that she was able to make a living wage to support her family.
''It was so long ago I can hardly remember all the jobs I did,'' Mrs. Thrash said.
But she acknowledged that it was hard work.
''It's remarkable for that time for a woman
to have been that involved,'' marveled Susan Clark, administrative assistant for the blimp crew, who helped Thursday with the flight's logistics.
A little hard of hearing and somewhat frail, the very conversant Mrs. Thrash — she with the bright red fingernails — was helped from her wheelchair into the airship's gondola, or passenger cabin, by an attentive cast of men in navy-blue uniforms, all young enough to be her great-grandsons.
Mrs. Thrash, a grandmother of seven, great-grandmother of 14 and great-great-grandmother of 12, was actually scheduled to go up Wednesday. But the flight was scrubbed at the last minute because of high winds.
By flight time Thursday, Mrs. Thrash, a resident since April at Altercare of Hartville Center for Rehabilitation & Nursing Care, could hardly wait for liftoff.
With joy in her heart and, yes, a little fear and trepidation at first, the petite woman took her place behind veteran pilot Mark Kynett, who was both engaging and reassuring.
''I sure do enjoy this! It would be worth a dime of anybody's money,'' an animated Mrs. Thrash said of the airship, which is 192 feet long, 50 feet wide, 59.5 feet high and has a volume of 202,700 cubic feet.
As Kynett cruised at 30 mph from the blimp's home at Wingfoot Lake in Suffield Township to Akron, Mrs. Thrash took great pleasure in surveying autumn's majestic color palette 1,000 feet below. Notable landmarks like Derby Downs and the Goodyear test track were in full view.
Goodyear currently operates four blimps: the Spirit of Goodyear, based in Akron; the Spirit of America, based in Carson, Calif.; the Spirit of Innovation, based in Pompano Beach, Fla.; and the Navigator, based in China.
Also, on board the Spirit of Goodyear for Thursday's trip were the honoree's 76-year-old son Joseph ''Joe'' Thrash of Akron, who worked 14 years at Goodyear Aerospace, including five years on the flight crew; and her grandson-in-law, George ''Bud'' Clement of Akron, who will turn 62 on her birthday.
Other passengers were Bruce Robb of Alliance and Jim Bear of Kent, both stockbrokers from Butler Wick & Co.
All agreed it was a magical way for Mrs. Thrash to celebrate her milestone birthday.
Among those waiting on the ground was 50-year-old Debbie Cutright of Springfield Township, who rewarded her grandmother with a big hug.
''I'd like to thank Goodyear for answering my grandmother's prayers,'' Cutright said. ''All I ever heard when I was young is her wishing for a ride on the Goodyear blimp.''
Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com.
It's great to have a dream.
Get the full article here.
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