Heliport
14th Jun 2007, 07:29
Memphis
Merle Shelton, former globetrotting missionary, has flown to a lot of places in her 86 years -- but never like this.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Gallery/MerleShelton2.jpg
Merle Shelton, 86, and a Baptist pastor's wife for 30 years, takes off on her first helicopter ride from the Gen. DeWitt Spain Airport Wednesday morning.
One thousand feet above ground and traveling 100 mph, the pastor's widow and mother of two fulfilled her long-grounded dream Wednesday.
"I always wanted to fly in a helicopter," she said.
For an hour and 15 minutes flying over Memphis, Shelton felt young again.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Gallery/MerleShelton1.jpg
The view was unlike anything her Collierville Health and Rehab Center room ever could provide.
Forever Young, a senior wish organization based in Collierville, got Shelton's dream off the ground. The group hired a limousine to pick Shelton up in Collierville and drive her to the Gen. DeWitt Spain Airport in Frayser.
There, Wayne Breeden of Helicopters Inc., donated his services and gave Shelton an aerial tour of Memphis.
Forever Young, which is under application for nonprofit status, reaches out to Memphis-area nursing home residents, home-bound individuals and adult day care facilities, said founder and president Diane Hight.
"They still have desires," said Hight about seniors. "They are still young at heart."
With community help and donations from area companies. the organization has been granting wishes for seniors since August 2006, Hight said.
The wishes often are quite simple. One man wanted to own a computer; one woman just wanted to leave the nursing home to go sightseeing in her old Memphis neighborhood.
"We help anyone over 65," Hight said. "They don't have to have any health issues, just an unfulfilled dream."
When it came time for Shelton to board the helicopter, she wasn't scared. "You know what you're doing ... don't you?" she jokingly asked the pilot.
She worried if flying in the open helicopter would mess up her curly white hair.
After the ride, hairdo still in place, Shelton's concerns took flight. "It was fun," she said, smiling.
Merle Shelton, former globetrotting missionary, has flown to a lot of places in her 86 years -- but never like this.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Gallery/MerleShelton2.jpg
Merle Shelton, 86, and a Baptist pastor's wife for 30 years, takes off on her first helicopter ride from the Gen. DeWitt Spain Airport Wednesday morning.
One thousand feet above ground and traveling 100 mph, the pastor's widow and mother of two fulfilled her long-grounded dream Wednesday.
"I always wanted to fly in a helicopter," she said.
For an hour and 15 minutes flying over Memphis, Shelton felt young again.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/Rotorheads/Gallery/MerleShelton1.jpg
The view was unlike anything her Collierville Health and Rehab Center room ever could provide.
Forever Young, a senior wish organization based in Collierville, got Shelton's dream off the ground. The group hired a limousine to pick Shelton up in Collierville and drive her to the Gen. DeWitt Spain Airport in Frayser.
There, Wayne Breeden of Helicopters Inc., donated his services and gave Shelton an aerial tour of Memphis.
Forever Young, which is under application for nonprofit status, reaches out to Memphis-area nursing home residents, home-bound individuals and adult day care facilities, said founder and president Diane Hight.
"They still have desires," said Hight about seniors. "They are still young at heart."
With community help and donations from area companies. the organization has been granting wishes for seniors since August 2006, Hight said.
The wishes often are quite simple. One man wanted to own a computer; one woman just wanted to leave the nursing home to go sightseeing in her old Memphis neighborhood.
"We help anyone over 65," Hight said. "They don't have to have any health issues, just an unfulfilled dream."
When it came time for Shelton to board the helicopter, she wasn't scared. "You know what you're doing ... don't you?" she jokingly asked the pilot.
She worried if flying in the open helicopter would mess up her curly white hair.
After the ride, hairdo still in place, Shelton's concerns took flight. "It was fun," she said, smiling.