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LEGEND of the NATIONAL Sundowners
| In 1985, Carol (Wallace)
Heinrich (NAL 1955) arranged a reunion for the once Jacksonville based
stewardesses........sixteen attended. Shirley (Boatright) McClure (NAL
1953) and her husband, Denver, went to Jacksonville from Miami to attend.
Shirley and Denver then decided to host a reunion for all stewardesses
who flew up to 1960 at their Old Cutler Inn restaurant in Miami in 1987.
Nancie LaRue and Dori Bissell met at that gathering and, along with Gerry
(Gawert) McLeod, put together 90 names and began planning for a full-scale
reunion. As word of their plans spread, Nancie received and began
cataloguing the names and addresses that became the basis for the first
reunion held in Orlando in April 1994. Nearly 200 attended. When the ball
landed in my lap, I was mystified! I became computer friendly to
save myself from drowning in a sea of names and addresses and was determined
to develop a name for our organization….an organization that would represent
all the stewardesses and flight attendants that flew during the years of
National's existence from the early 1930's to the merger with Pan Am.
NATIONAL Sundowners emerged from the many suggestions and the logo incorporates
the stars from "The Airline of the Stars" and the face of the "SunKing"
that became familiar to so many until the end in 1980. I am pleased to
say that we now have approximately 1,100 names with addresses in our directory.
However, there are 4,450 names in a database drawn from the many seniority
lists I have accumulated and know that there are names still missing from
the overall count. Each time I can add another address to a name
is like finding a piece to a puzzle. Our reunions have been held biennially
in Orlando since that first one in 1994 and we are now looking forward
to returning to Miami in October 13 and 14, 2000.
Continue to NAL History
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