Neighborhood Notes

On August 8 at 7:00 PM over the skies of Portland, Oregon-born Suzanne Oliver, America's last remaining "free-hand" daredevil skywriter will attempt one of the longest and most complex skywriting routines ever performed. Suzanne Asbury-Oliver was born to fly. Growing up in Forest Grove, OR in the 1960s and ‘70s, she flew gliders at 14, soloed at 15, and at 18 was a licensed flight instructor. Suzanne learned the craft of skywriting from original 1920’s-era barnstormers making
aviation history and becoming the central figure of one of the Nation’s most famous skywriting teams. Her first plane, a 1924 biplane, hangs today, along with Amelia Earhart’s, in the Smithsonian. Returning to Oregon for the Hillsboro Air Show as part of an aerobatic team, Suzanne will also attempt a dazzling display of barnstorming skywriting over Portland at approximately 7:00 PM on Wednesday, August 8.

“Sometimes the stars just align perfectly” muses Eva Bernhard, owner of Cool Moon Ice Cream Company opening this fall in Portland’s Pearl District. As a woman, a business owner, and the mother of a teenage daughter, I read Suzanne’s amazing story and thought wow, this woman-pioneer perfectly exemplifies the truism that if you dream large, you can achieve anything. We contacted Suzanne and pitched the idea of Cool Moon sponsoring her in a display of her legendary craft over the skies of Portland. Suzanne is the last remaining pilot in the United States who crafts messages in the sky ‘free-hand’ in
authentic1920’s barnstormer style. True to form, Suzanne loved the idea of a 350 MPH‘homecoming’ and met the challenge head-on. She says it is probably the longest message ever written at 10,000 feet, but if it can be done, this Oregon-original has ‘the right stuff!’”

So, this Wednesday, August 8, at around 7:00 PM (weather and cloud-cover allowing) look to the skies above Portland. The small dot roaring over the horizon will be Suzanne’s retrofitted Oregon Aero “Super Chipmunk”. If all goes well, when she hits perfect velocity, Suzanne’s plane will bank sharply, ‘rev up to 350 miles per hour, and begin a death-defying climb straight towards the COOL MOON with a vapor of ICE trailing the plane like a tail of CREAM.

More on Suzanne can be found at
http://www.oregonaeroskydancer.com/v2/final_SkyDancerPilots.pdf
Suzanne can be reached at: (303) 478-4853

More on Cool Moon is contained in the following article:
http://willametteweek.com/editorial/3337/9296/
Eva can be contacted at (503) 833-2636