It appears it would take more than a global software glitch to keep Jones County Pilot Club members from keeping their schedules when returning from the 2024 Pilot International conference in Denver.
This year’s Jones County Pilot Club incoming president, Wanda Bush, was accompanied on the trip by club members Fay Mathews, Beth Coon and Kathy Jackson.
The dates of the convention were July 17-20, but they arrived on the 15th for preconvention tours and some additional sightseeing. All went well at the conference, including the Jones County club being awarded second place for Outstanding Community Service and first place for Pick Me Up Project.
Coon said they had left the final convention meeting Saturday night and were in bed when they received the notice from Delta that their flight to Atlanta had been cancelled. Jackson said she almost immediately started looking for alternative flights and ultimately booked a car at 1 a.m.
“It was a small car, but we were going to make it work,” Jackson said. “Our biggest problem with the delay was our medications.”
They had arranged a car to take them to the Denver airport at 6 a.m. Sunday, and they kept with that schedule. Bush said the options they were given at the airport were basically to hang around for the chance to fly standby or wait for days for the problem to resolve.
The ladies decided on ‘plan C’ and took a bus to the rental car provider.
Jackson said they received an upgrade for the vehicle and started back home in a minivan at 7:45 a.m. Three of the members took turns driving, and the group stopped at 11 p.m. in St. Louis for the night.
Bush said they slept four and a half hours and headed back out at 5:25 a.m. Monday. They concluded the 1,956-mile drive at 7:30 p.m.
Coon said Bush had to go to work Tuesday, and she needed to decorate the Jonesco Clubhouse for their Tuesday evening meeting. Jackson said they actually had an event Monday morning, the Back to School Bash, but it was covered by other Pilot members.
Unlike many stories reported in the news, Jackson had a different experience with Delta.
“The airline was wonderful. They helped pay for the rental car, our motel room and gas for the trip home. I received a refund the next day after I applied,” she said.
Jackson said she had all the receipts, and finding the forms to fill out online was a bit of a challenge. But with that done, the refund process was quick.
Listening to the four club members talk about the trip home, it was apparent they viewed it as another adventure for the local club’s rich history. That history includes having a past governor, Ester Foster, from the Jones County Pilot Club, and winning the highest award that can be achieved, the Governor’s Cup Award, for 2022-23.
Pilot International is a community-based volunteer service organization founded in 1921 in Macon, where its headquarters is still located.
The Jones County Pilot Club was chartered in 1973 and celebrated 50 years of service last year.
Club members have worked with literacy projects in schools since 1999 and has performed finger puppets shows since 2001. The puppet shows are part of the Brainminders campaign that has given over 1,000 helmets to students.
Project Life Savers help those who wander in partnership with the Jones County Sheriff’s Office.
Pilot Club members work with the transmitters worn by recipients and the receptors are at the JCSO.
The Jones County club is one of the organization’s biggest, which puts them in the highest competition Gold Level of clubs with 41 or more members. The Jones County Pilot Club has 57 members and eight emeritus members.
Jackson, the club’s project coordinator, said the real award for the members is the projects themselves.
“We do children’s project with our puppets, bingo with the elderly and take flowers to the home bound. Participating in the projects is the real reward for all of us,” she said.
The projects Jackson mentioned are just a few of the numerous projects the Pilot Club does for the community each year.
Coon added that the members get out of projects what they put in.
Pilot members are known for their cakes and desserts, but Coon said they only sell the treats at the annual Veteran Appreciation Day and the Touch a Truck event, which is coming up Sept. 21.
The four members are truly a team. Bush said, without their help, she would not be able to fulfill the duties of president while still working. She said Mathews is the storyteller, Jackson is the organizer, Coon is the decorator and she takes care of the Facebook page.
“She posts the pictures, and I write the script,” Mathews added.
Jackson said every member of the Pilot Club contributes.
“Without them, we wouldn’t win all the awards,” she said.
The club member said she feels they were very lucky during the return trip.
“We had interstate from Denver until we turned off in Forsyth,” she said.
Bush agreed. “All in all, the trip back home went well, without any incidents. I was in great company; couldn’t ask for anything better,” she concluded.
