Veterans at The Oaks Gracious Living fly high with DreamFlights

A special hangar at the Georgetown Executive Airport was buzzing with excitement November 9. The skies were cloudy with potential rain in the forecast, but military veterans from The Oaks Gracious Living were anxiously waiting their turn to fly high above Georgetown with DreamFlights. The special attractions during the flight were the nearby Field of Honor and Lake Georgetown. 

Nonprofit DreamFlights, in partnership with Georgetown-based SportClips, provided fun rides in what could be lovingly dubbed a “Snoopy plane,” a bright yellow single engine, 2-seater airplane. 

All of the flyers returned from their adventure smiling from ear to ear and proclaiming the desire for another ride. 

“It was so much fun, I’d go again,” said Betty McCann. 

Back on the ground, the pilots were akin to rock stars, autographing DreamFlight caps for the flyers.

The Veterans

The military veterans participating in the flights include:

• Betty McCann, 98, served the Marine Corps during the Korean War  

• Earl McGeorge, 89, served 4 years in the Navy during the Korean War  

• John Zaragoza, 81, Airman 1st Class in the Air Force and crew chief on the KC-97 inflight refueler 

• Kent Cummins, 80, served 11 years in the Army reaching Lt Col rank

• Joyce Rowell, Coast Guard military spouse 

• Daryl McCann, a self-described “military brat” and the daughter of Betty McCann 

Including the veterans participating in the DreamFlights event, The Oaks is home to over two dozen veterans: Morris Cline, Don Cole, Gail Duncan, Bill Dunn, Bill Everett, John Eubank, Ron Faulkner, Ralph Furtner, Curtis Good, Connie Griger, Forest Hankins, Bob Huard, Windle Kelley, Charlie Johnson, Earl McLain, Wes Odell, James Stockton, Robert Ralston, Ron Tegtmeier, Bob Wakefield and Joe Way. Another dozen military spouses also call The Oaks Gracious Living home.

The Plane

The Spirit of Wisconsin is a nine-cylinder Stearman built in 1943 and manufactured by Boeing. It has the same engine found in General George S. Patton’s tanks. It was used to train military aviators during World War II in Minneapolis and Corpus Christi. 

On its way to becoming a crop duster in retirement, it ended in storage instead moving from Missouri to North Carolina and finally to Tennessee, where Roland Garlinghouse gave it a permanent home and a face lift. Eventually, David Lamken initiated and led a two-year campaign to raise over $125,000 earmarked for the purchase of the Spirit of Wisconsin. 

This was the first Stearman purchased by DreamFlights using funds raised by a local community. 

Pilots and crew

DreamFlights volunteer pilots are current and retired commercial pilots and former military aviators. Darryl Fisher was the senior pilot for the Georgetown event handling the Spirit of Wisconsin. James Simms also piloted a Stearman and landed just in time to provide flights for a couple of the veterans. Hunter Stuckey is a pilot and for this event, the Crew Chief along with Jenny Garza and Max Myers.

Mr. Fisher grew up among aviators and senior living leaders and developed a passion for both. Improving the lives of seniors is a family mission that he fulfills through his role as President of Mission Senior Living, a Nevada-based senior living operator, and Founder and President of Dream Flights, a nonprofit dedicated to giving back to those who gave.

DreamFlights 

In 2023, DreamFlights has flown more than 738 veterans and provided this experience to 6,443 veterans since 2011. Each year, DreamFlights wraps up their annual flight schedule in Georgetown with a day of flights for local veterans. 

DreamFlights never charges veterans, families or their communities and instead relies on the generosity of corporate sponsors, donors and individual donations. SportClips, American

Airlines, Veterans United Home Loans and American Healthcare Association/National Center for Assisted Living are among the major corporate sponsors. The Oaks Gracious Living provided room and board for the pilots.

Together with his father Bill in 2011, Darryl planned to fly Bill’s fully restored Stearman from Mississippi to Oregon. Darryl asked his father if they could give one or two veterans a dream flight on their refueling stops. Bill agreed and the first DreamFlights took place on March 29, 2011, honoring Hugh Newton, a radar operator in World War II.

The Field of Honor

The veteran rides in the Stearman took them over Georgetown’s Field of Honor. For the seventh year, over a thousand American Flags dot the field honoring and dedicated to living and deceased veterans. 

The Georgetown Rotary Club organizes the annual event and SportClips is a title sponsor. This year’s location was provided by the Georgetown ISD in the field behind the Hammerlun Center for Leadership and Learning at 507 East University Avenue

The sponsors

For a decade, SportClips has been the primary sponsor of DreamFlights. As a veteran-founded company, supporting veterans organizations is especially important to everyone at SportClips. This partnership is special in that it gives SportClips team members and franchisees the opportunity to get out of the stores to volunteer at flights around the country and honor these deserving veterans.

”Our key sponsor is SportClips,” saidMerilyn Chaffee, DreamFlights spokesperson. “We’ve been working together with them since 2014 and have a wonderful relationship. They send their members out all over the U.S. to help make the day special for our senior veteran Dream Flyers. They also donate financially and we really appreciate our partnership so much.” 

Amanda Palm, director of communications and partnerships for SportClips, said DreamFlights are a “magical, life-changing experience,” both for the veterans and the SportClips volunteers.

“I’ve been lucky to participate in many DreamFlights around the country,” Ms. Palm said. “This is such an important partnership because it gives our team members an opportunity to give back and connect with these veterans in a unique way, and it’s a great benefit to working for SportClips,” 

Volunteers and support crew at the event included Andrea Rokovich, Sieglinde Irlbacher, Galen Adams, Emily Pugh and Erika Van Dervort.