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Show Mom skydives for Lindon show and tell By KALYN SECRETAN "Show and Tell" has become more elaborate these days. Several hundred students stood outside the Lindon Elementary School on Nov. 1 as four skydivers jumped from an airplane. Jason Peck, was particularly proud and anxious because his mother was one of the participants. It was a beautiful fall day and the colorful parachutes drifting to the ground drew passing vehicles to the area. Jason's mom, Gwen Pratt, met with Principal Eugene Maag and expressed a desire to skydive at the Lindon School. The school was delighted to have the students watch the skydivers in action. Mrs. Pratt, who has been skydiving about five years, performed per-formed at a Sandy Elementary School last year on her daughter's birthday. Jason, who lives with his father in Lindon, was anxious to have his mom come to the Lindon school, also. So arrangements were made for Gwen, along with her husband, Bill Pratt, and friends Shauna Pendleton Pen-dleton and Mary Tarleton to participate par-ticipate in the event. All are part of the Cedar Valley Sky Diving demonstration team. They can be seen nearly every Saturday and Sunday practicing at Cedar Fort when the weather permits. The Pratts received national recognition last June as they were married in mid-air. The publicized marriage staged at the Homestead in Midway was viewed on PM Magazine in September. The marriage ceremony began in the airplane and the "I Do's" were exchanged in the air with the preacher right along with them. A total of 13 skyjumpers participated par-ticipated in the daring wedding party including the bridesmaids, best man, ushers and the photographer who recorded the ceremony with the camera attached to his helmet. It was a fun wedding with the celebration continuing after hitting the ground at the Homestead grove. As the skyjumpers landed at Lindon Elementary, the students swarmed around them with many questions. Students wondered about the weight of the parachute. Gwen informed the students her rig weighed about 16-18 pounds. It consists of a main parachute and a reserve, plus the container. She explained she packs her own main, if a problem exists and it doesn't open it is time for the reserve. The reserve has to be packed by a licensed rigger. Regulations require the reserve to be repacked every 120 days. The airplane from the Cedar Fort airport released the skydivers at 7000 feet. The parachutes used by the foursome are made of rip stop nylon and cost from $800 to $1000. Shauna Pendleton and her husband organized the skydivers at the BYU Fourth of July Event and the team does a lot of demonstrations demon-strations at Vernal. Gwen has participated in about 400 jumps while her husband has nearly 1000. The demo team love to put on exhibitions and will jump for special occasions for the cost of the airplane. Jason Peck, front right, rushes to give Mom, Gwen Pratt a hug upon her landing at Lindon Elementary following a sky diving demonstration. i |