DATE: June 29, 2009

CONTACT: Ed Selby, 239-285-3843
oldpacknaples@earthlink.net

WRITER: Angela Nixon, 864-656-0382
anixon@clemson.edu

Clemson’s Dixie Skydivers celebrates 50 years with jump on Bowman Field

CLEMSON — Clemson University’s Dixie Skydivers group will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a reunion and a jump onto Bowman Field. More than 60 alumni of the club will return to Clemson July 3-5, and the jump is scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. Saturday, July 4.

The student organization was started in 1959 — a time when the sport of skydiving was still new — by Ed Selby, a 1962 Clemson graduate, and his friend, Bill Holt. Selby had returned to Clemson after a stint in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, where he joined the 82nd Sport Parachute Club. After returning to Clemson, Selby met fellow student and former paratrooper Holt and the two began jumping together at the old Clemson Aero Club, which now is underneath the waters of Hartwell Lake.

The university administration did not officially recognize the organization right away. The group was not allowed to jump on or near campus and was not given any funding or other privileges that come with being an official student organization. But that did not stop them from trying — the group would travel to places like Lavonia, Ga., and Spartanburg to continue making jumps.

Selby said the founding members of the club are excited to see the jump onto Bowman Field because it was something they were never allowed to do in his day and because of a prank they pulled there in 1962.

“We wanted to illustrate to everyone the restrictions the administration had placed on us,” he said. “We posted a notice that there was to be a jump on Bowman. It was a dance weekend, and hundreds — maybe 1,000 — people showed up to see the jump. But Dean (Walter) Cox said if anyone jumped out of a plane onto Bowman Field, they would be kicked out of school.

“A target was placed on Bowman, and at the scheduled time of the jump, a skydiver in full gear ran across Bowman to the target, pulled a ladder out from under it, climbed to the top, yelled ‘Geronimo!’ and jumped off the ladder. He pulled his ripcord and miniature parachute came out. Then we all took off running. People were mad because they were hoping to see an actual jump, but that was the only kind of jump we were allowed to make,” Selby said.

After their stunt, which was covered by the student newspaper, The Tiger, and The Greenville News, Cox met with the students and gave them a key to a small building where they could hold meetings and store their gear, Selby said.

The organization eventually was recognized by the university in the late 1960s or early 1970s. The club now has nearly 30 members and participates in jumps every weekend at the Oconee County Airport.

An exhibit in the lobby at the R.M. Cooper Library tells the story of the group’s history with photos, documents and gear from the past 50 years. The exhibit is on display through Aug. 10.

Spectators wanting to view the jump on Bowman Field are asked to stand underneath the trees on the edge of the field for safety reasons.