With a chance to play one of her heroes, local pilot and CalhounCounty Airport manager Dianna Stanger could not say no.
Stanger will take the lead part in Saturday’s Valentine Gala, afundraiser for Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic School. The theme forthis year’s event is “Where in the world is Amelia Earhart,” andStanger will play the mysterious aviator. The gala will also have achange of locations, moving to the airport for the evening.
“It’s nostalgic and it’s a mystery,” Stanger said. “It’s a good fitat the airport.”
Stanger became more interested in Earhart, the first female pilotto cross the Atlantic Ocean, when she entered the Powder PuffDerby. The derby is an all-female transcontinental air race.Earhart flew in the inaugural event in 1929.
Stanger also gained a greater appreciation for Earhart and thepilots of that era after she began to fly a biplane. She said aniPhone has more technology than was used to fly around the world atthat time.
“She did it with just direction finder and radio with morse code,”Stanger said. “She tried to go around the equator. That’s justamazing.”
It is believed Earhart died in her 1937 attempt to circumnavigatethe globe. Her body was never found.
“Amelia Earhart is a mystery. Nobody ever found a body or a plane,”Stanger said. “Nobody is sure if she crashed or if she disappearedand became a housewife in New Jersey. There are a lot of differenttheories out there. It is a great mystery, and it’s something goodfor the church to take advantage of.”
Mystery is no stranger to the gala. The theme two years ago was amurder mystery, and last year’s theme centered on the Titanic.Theresa Dent, school principal, said there are multiple endings tothe show and added that even Stanger will not know the ending untilabout five minutes before it happens.
“There will be people with different types of scenarios, allcentered around what happened to Amelia,” she said.
“There’s over 245 destinations on earth. Nobody knows the ending,”she added.
Dent said the final ending will be randomly generated using acomputer. The person attending with the correct number, whichrepresents a certain ending, will win the grand prize of a designerbracelet valued over $700.
The whole evening is set to an aviation theme with those attending”boarding” planes bound for destinations worldwide. Even thewaiters will be dressed up as flight attendants.
The event is now sold out, Dent said, and there is a waiting listfor tickets. The proceeds from the gala go to the OLG teacher bonusfund.
“It should be a lot of fun,” Dent said.
As for Stanger, she is just glad that she can be involved inportraying Earhart.
“I fly a biplane. It just takes me back to another era,” she said.”The fact that I can play the part is pretty neat.”
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