An
Arizona collector finds an envelope with a 1929 Walla Walla
Air Derby postmark and sends it home.
By
Andy Porter of the Union-Bulletin
Click
images to enlarge.
Tickets donated by
Dora Haag Loveall
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A
bit of local aviation history landed at Walla Walla Regional
Airport recently, courtesy of an Arizona collector.
An
air mail envelope commemorating the 1929 Walla Walla Air
Derby was sent to the airport by Tucson resident Lowell
Joerg.
Airport
Manager Larry Adams showed the envelope and read a letter
from Joerg to Port of Walla Walla commissioners Wednesday
at the commission's meeting.
The
77-year-old Joerg said he found the envelope at an antique
store in Sedona, a small town nestled in the Coconino National
Forest in central Arizona.
In
a telephone interview Friday, Joerg said he likes to send
historic papers and envelopes he finds to people who might
be interested in them.
``This
is kind of a little sideline hobby of mine in retirement,'
he said. ``I don't make any money on it. Half of them don't
reply, but some people are really grateful.'
Postmarked
May 27, 1929, the envelope was affixed with a 5-cent air-mail
stamp and sent to Roy McBean, 1222 S. 59th St. in Philadelphia.
But how it then made its way from Pennsylvania to Sedona,
``I have no idea...' Joerg said.
After
paying $8 for the envelope and another $2 for a color enlargement
of it, Joerg wrote that he thought ``By golly, I'll send
it home where it can be appreciated...Our history and heritage
are important to all of us.'
According
to a history of aviation in the Walla Walla Valley written
in 1976 by then-college student Dennis Casper, the 1929
air derby was a follow up to one held in 1928. Both events
featured stunt flying, rides and ``the first air races ever
held in Southeastern Washington.'
One
of the stars of the 1929 show was J.G. ``Tex' Rankin, a
Walla Walla native who learned to fly in World War I and
went on to become a pioneer aviator in this area. The derby
also featured Edith Foltz, the first woman pilot to land
in the Valley, Casper wrote.
Port
Executive Director Jim Kuntz said the Port will repay Joerg
the $13 he spent for the envelope, enlargement and postage
costs.
Joerg
said the reimbursement would be nice.
``I
don't know what I'm going to do with it, maybe take my wife
out to lunch,' he said with a chuckle.
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