{"id":750,"date":"2018-06-02T17:28:17","date_gmt":"2018-06-02T23:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irenenorth.com\/writings\/?p=750"},"modified":"2024-04-22T02:46:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T02:46:15","slug":"i-went-to-volunteer-but-i-found-time-to-take-a-lot-of-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/2018\/06\/02\/i-went-to-volunteer-but-i-found-time-to-take-a-lot-of-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"I went to volunteer, but I found time to take a lot of photos"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Could you and ten of your friends pull this 39,000 pound plane 15 feet in less than six seconds? You’d have to in order to be the winning team “Beauty and the Beasts.”<\/p><\/div>\n

911 Communications Director Ray Richards called me to ask if Paul and I would volunteer to help out during the Pulling for a Purpose<\/a> event at the Western Nebraska Regional Airport. I didn’t know what to expect so, as usual, I brought my camera bag with me.<\/p>\n

I donned my yellow t-shirt that said I was an official part of Pulling with a Purpose. Paul and I headed out to the airport. Because I don’t follow directions, instead of pulling up at the gate right next to where we needed to be, I parked near the terminal and walked a quarter of mile into the airport. We passed several planes and thousands of people. I snapped pictures along the way. It’s what I do and it sometimes embarrasses Paul even if he says it doesn’t. You know it does when he slowly drifts away from me like he doesn’t know me.<\/p>\n

After the event, I looked at the photographs, all 877 of them. I whittled them down to 462 good ones. Then, I chose the best 28 photographs for this photo essay. The last photograph in this series is my favorite from the day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Paul and I started out day out by checking out the new jet that flies out of Scottsbluff. We will be on one of these jets soon as our vacation is coming up. Once we were done here, we found Ray Richards to find out what he wanted us to do.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Getting a good photo of Paul was difficult today because the yellow shirts we were given reflected onto everything.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Volunteer Carol Sinner shows off the trophy the winners will take home. Pulling for a Purpose sees teams compete to see who can pull a plane 15 feet in the shortest amount of time. Money raised from the day goes to Special Olympics Nebraska.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chabella Guzman, of KNEB, interviews Sheriff Mark Overman.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Lanette Richards, right, director for the Monument Prevention Coalition speaks with Miss Kool-Aid Days, Nikki-Catrina Anderson. Nikki had just learned from some of the young ladies that they work with Richards on the Monument Prevention Coalition Youth Advisory Board to help reduce underage drinking in western Nebraska.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

I call this “Chabella finds dog.” The DJ for Pulling for a Purpose brought his dog with him. The dog got away, but Chabella Guzman came to the rescue. I’m not cropping the photo because I really like how this turned out.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Obey the yellow line. You don’t want to mess with this guy. This is especially true if you have taken his picture and he didn’t know about it.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

I think I see Mandy Hadenfeldt in this photo. This was a popular plane people wanted to see at the 2018 Airport Appreciation Day at Western Nebraska Regional Airport.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Western Nebraska Pioneers baseball team have a go at pulling a plane.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A view from the cockpit as team “Beauty and the Beasts” get ready to do a test run to pull the plane. In the background, Brad Staman, left, editor of the Scottsbluff Star-Herald newspaper, and Dave Strang, of KNEB and the local Experimental Airport Association, prepare to take video.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

This guy got to watch the entire Pulling for a Purpose from the co-pilot’s seat. My flash wouldn’t fire, so it’s not the best photograph I’ve ever taken. It doesn’t matter. The kid had fun.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

I had plenty of time, so I did the artsy thing and focused on the stuff in the cockpit rather than the group pulling the plane.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

You wait a few moments, hit your camera a few times, the flash fires and you get a great picture of a kid having the time of his life in the co-pilot’s seat.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Brad Staman, editor, Scottsbluff Star-Herald, checks to make sure he got some good video at the Pulling for a Purpose event at the Western Nebraska Regional Airport.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

This is the DJ’s dog. As soon as the dog saw me, it cocked its head as if to ask, “What is that thing you are pointing at me?”<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A plane takes off from Western Nebraska Regional Airport during the 2018 Airport Appreciation Day.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

During Airport Appreciation Day at Western Nebraska Regional Airport, children ages seven to eighteen can take a ride in personal plane. No one would believe I was seventeen.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A C-130 Air Force plane pulls out of Western Nebraska Regional Airport. The crew had been on site to let visitors see inside their massive plane during the 2018 Airport Appreciation Day.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Air Force crew waves goodbye to everyone. I’m told the plane is as loud inside as it is outside. Maybe one day someone will take me up for a spin.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

I think this Western Nebraska Pioneers baseball player could pull a plane all by himself.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Western Nebraska Pioneers baseball team were good sports about participating in Pulling for a Purpose. They didn’t have the fastest time, but sure looked like they were having fun.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

I don’t think these guys could try any harder.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 608 hosts Airport Appreciation Day each year at Western Nebraska Regional Airport. They also participated in the Pulling for a Purpose event, which raises money for Special Olympics Nebraska. Before they began, they asked Miss Kool-Aid Days, Nikki-Catrina Anderson to join them.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

I couldn’t decide if I liked this picture better than the last one, so I added both.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Brian Sherrod, of NBC Nebraska television and Photographer Tim Abshire enjoy the break in between teams during the Pulling for a Purpose event at Wetern Nebraska Regional Airport.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Brian Sherrod, of NBC Nebraska, works two different cameras at the same time to capture the Western Nebraska Pioneers baseball team pull a plane during the Pulling for a Purpose event at Western Nebraska Regional Airport.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A military helicopter lifts off the tarmac at Western Nebraska Regional Airport during the 2018 Airport Appreciation Day.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

After a long day eating pancakes made by the Kiwanis, looking at dozens of planes and airport fire trucks, and watching a bunch of people try to pull a plane faster than a bunch of other people, there’s nothing better than going home safely.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

911 Communications Director Ray Richards called me to ask if Paul and I would volunteer to help out during the Pulling for a Purpose event at the Western Nebraska Regional Airport. I didn’t know what to expect so, as usual, I brought my camera bag with me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[254,276,280,343],"class_list":["post-750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nebraska","category-photos","tag-nebraska","tag-photos","tag-plane","tag-special-olympics"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=750"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3850,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750\/revisions\/3850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}