Back in the fall of 1961 Thelma Dawson's husband Tom asked her to fly their Cessna 182 down to Bradenton/Sarasota Airport for radio work. At the avionics shop she met Dee McCullum and Marsha Watkins. Dee and Marsha had tried to take off in their 182, but the shop technician heard them and told the tower to send them to his shop. He was sure they were the ones at the airport for radio work, sent by their husbands! How could there be more than one lady pilot in a 182? Times were very different in 1961!
According to Thelma the ladies all had a good laugh, then exchanged contact information and arranged to get in touch with other women pilots and get together for a fly-in, which they did in February 1962 at Lakeland Airport. At their first gathering there were only two planes that flew in, piloted by Thelma Dawson and Frances Kolbis, and six lady pilots. They decided to repeat the experience on the last Wednesday of each month, returning to Lakeland in March.
The club name came from early member BoBo Welsh at their third fly-in, who said the fly gals reminded her of a real grasshopper which flew into her cockpit that morning and hopped from one side to the other. She suggested they were like the grasshopper as they hopped from one airport to another. The ladies liked it and it is still the club name after more than 50 years!
The club grew from an unexpected meeting of three women pilots in an airport radio shop to about 100 members, mostly from Florida, and mostly women. Over time male pilots started feeling left out of the fun... thus there are now many proud “Crickets" in the Club! Long-time member Ursula Davidson recalls that Ladde Mayer may have been the first brave man to attend and host meetings in Orlando during the 1980's. Ursula also recalled that then-Newsletter Editor Mina Elschner dubbed him a Cricket and added the designation of “Locust" to bring in needed revenue.
The Grasshoppers are all about flying for fun and fellowship and food, along with proficiency! The dues are minimal, enough to cover newsletter and Membership Directory printing and mailng costs. There are no elections of officers - in fact there are no officers, only Activities and Membership Coordinators! And of course the Newsletter/Facebook Page/Website Editors who are the glue holding us all together.