VERO BEACH — Piper Aircraft is the 2012 recipient of Exchange Club of Indian River‘s Proudly We Hail award.
Committee chair Andrew Molloy and club president Aaron Bowles presented the award to Jackie Carlon, Director of Marketing, at Piper’s Military Wall of Honor on July 18.
The club honored Piper with this award for proudly displaying the American flag at the plant entrance and other areas. The Vero Beach aviation manufacturer is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
Proudly We Hail is a special Americanism award presented annually by Exchange Clubs throughout the country. It honors individuals, businesses, and institutions for outstanding and ongoing patriotic display of the American flag.
The members of the club also enjoyed a tour of the Piper plant led by Carlon, Donna Kendall, Buddy Watson, and Craig Clayton, followed by a lunch in the Crosswinds Room catered by Culinary Capers.
The club is an active partner in the Vero Beach Air Show being planned for October 2013.
Exchange has a long history of interest in aviation; one of the National Exchange Club’s first programs was Service to Aviation.
Even though women were not accepted into membership until 1985, the national organization sponsored the first transcontinental air race ever held for women, the National Women’s Air Derby, in 1929.
Fifteen female fliers, including Amelia Earhart, participated in the race, which later became known as the Powder Puff Derby. Several pilots are current members of the Indian River club.
Other Exchange Club of Indian River projects to promote Americanism include Get Out the Vote, One Nation Under God, Project GiveAKidAFlagToWave, and installations of Freedom Shrines in public buildings.
Exchange Club of Indian River meets for lunch at Culinary Capers each Wednesday at Noon. Meetings feature programs on a wide range of business, government and civic, charity, personal, and professional topics. It provides the community with programs in youth activities, service, and Americanism.
Through participation in its national mission, the Prevention of Child Abuse, the Exchange Club of Indian River’s Foundation supports a number of local youth-related projects. Its major fundraisers include the Annual Exchange Club Blue Water Open “Dolphin Mania” Charity Fishing Tournament held each May.
Further information about the club is available from Aaron Bowles, Exchange Club president, at (772) 569-0035 and at the club’s websites, http://www.ExchangeClubofIndianRiver.org and http://www.BlueWaterOpen.org.
Persons interested in learning more about Exchange Club membership, working for the prevention of child abuse, or donating to the Foundation’s Child Abuse Prevention Fund may seek further information from any member of the club.
