The day began early in the morning in Eloy, where I had met up with John the night before. (The lucky bastard didn't have to work on July 3, so he spent his day training with Arizona Fast Track while I worked.) We were out of bed and getting ready to hit the showers at the Drop Zone at six in the morning, because Brent and Mary would be at the trailer at 7:00 a.m. From there, we would drive to the Marana Airport (home of Skydive Marana) to meet John Coffman, and then to Tucson's Foothills Mall.

Security had already roped off a large area in which the Groundrush Skydiving Team would land. We all walked around the site, discussing where they would land if there were a problem, where the audience should be, and the duties of the ground crew (Mary and me). I would be in charge of unhooking the smoke canisters from John (who would be the first to land) before they could burn his canopy; and Mary would hold the wind streamer and communicate with the skydivers. We would also make sure that none of the spectators ran out into the landing area during the show.

Having inspected the landing area, we were ready to take the skydivers to the airport in Marana, where they would board the Cessna that would drop them over Foothills Mall. Then Mary and I returned to Foothills Mall to get ready for the show. We met up with my friend Priscille Dupuis, who had come out to watch the show, and we put her to work - I gave her my camera, and Mary gave her the wind streamer to hold.

At 11:00 a.m., the show began. Spectators gathered around to watch a DJ from one of the Tucson radio stations as he announced the Groundrush Parachutists. The first one to jump was John; with blue and red smoke streaming from his feet, he circled over the crowd under his father's canopy - a Raider 220 - and the spectators watched in awe. Then, John stalled right over the audience, and the people went nuts! They hooted and hollered and applauded as the DJ shouted, "Let's give it up for John Verley, ladies and gentlemen!" (What they didn't know was that he was shitting his pants at that moment; the wind had shifted and he was afraid that he was going to land in the middle of the people!)

And then John landed perfectly at the other end of the landing strip. I ran over to him and picked up the smoke canisters then gave him a hug and kiss while Priscille took our picture. At that point, Brent and Todd (a skydiver out of Buckeye's Desert Skydiving Center) landed; Brent knocked over one of the barricades on the way down. Finally, John Coffman came down with the American Flag attached to him; and he landed on his rear end, on top of the flag. However, no one seemed to notice but us; the crowd was in a frenzy from excitement. Little children came running up to the skydivers to get autographs and have their pictures taken with them. I enjoyed watching John play the hero for the kids; he kneeled behind one boy and signed his backwards signature on his T-shirt.

Once it was all over and the crowd had dispersed, it was time to return to Phoenix for the next show, which would be at the State Capitol. Although John would not be jumping, he had been asked to work ground crew for the demo. He and I had to make sure that the skydivers made it to Sky Harbor Airport on time and that none of the little children ran into the landing area during the show.

Before the show, we had a little time to relax. We had lunch with Brent and Mary at their house; then we all drove downtown and staked out a shaded area in which to rest until the show began.

The State Capitol show went off without a hitch (except that the smoke canisters burned through the ropes that held them and were lost); and by the time it was over, John and I were sunburned and exhausted. We didn't even stick around to see the fireworks display; in fact, we were asleep soon after we got home.

The next day, we planned to return to Eloy to retrieve my car and so that John could make a jump or two with his father. However, we awoke to rain, rain, and more rain. John didn't make a single jump, and my car got stuck in the mud. Disappointed, we returned home and declared that day "Bathrobe Day."

Return to Naked in the Woods.