Bev Jewett Memorial Grand Champion Award

Short Wings Over Saratoga – SWPC Convention 2013 – July 1st – 4th

The Northeast chapter of the Short Wing Piper Club announces that we will be awarding the Grand Champion award at the 2013 International SWPC convention in memory of Bev Jewett. Bev, who passed away this year, was a dear friend and very active member of the Short Wing Piper Club. He and his family were a constant presence at fly-ins and conventions for over 20 years. The enthusiasm and dedication that both he and his wife Susan had for our organization was beyond admirable!

Bev joined the Short Wing Piper Club in 1988. I was impressed with the distance he would travel to attend the Northeast chapter fly-ins. The Jewetts lived in a suburb of Montreal where he was an Air Canada captain and his wife Susan was a flight attendant. That’s a schlep for a Pacer! The Jewetts were active in the organizing of the 1993 SWPC Ellenville, N.Y. convention. Bev got at least half a dozen members from the Montreal area to join the Northeast chapter. There wasn’t much happening back then with Canadian involvement in our organization. For years, the Jewett family would make the trek down from Canada to our fly-ins. I remember one fly-in at member Zene Garnsey’s strip by the Hudson River. The whole family piled out of that Pacer and brought lobsters for my birthday! They would make a long weekend of our fly-in to the beach at Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.

As the years passed, the Jewetts moved from Van Kleek Hill to Guelph, Ontario (a suburb of Toronto) to be closer to his Air Canada base of operations. They had a beautiful home (with a pool) that Gloria & I visited. I would fly up to play golf with Bev often (he was practically a scratch golfer!). I remember one time when we happened to be there when he had promised his son he would take him to a Toronto Blue Jays game. It was against the Yankees. The Yankees won. The distance from Guelph to our events was a bit much for a day trip in their Pacer. I believe it was at this time, that Bev got involved in working with others in Canada to form some kind of active chapter for our SWPC. I know that he was among those that helped organize the Kingston, Ontario SWPC convention. Whether it was at Sun & Fun, Sentimental Journey, Oshkosh, or at a SWPC convention, Bev Jewett was there and boosting the Short Wing Piper Club. He will be greatly missed! The Northeast Chapter feels it is only proper to award the Grand Champion at this year’s SWPC convention in Bev’s memory.

Submitted by Short Wings Over Saratoga Chair, Andy Seligson