The Times

2 TIMES/GUIDE Weekend of May 22/23, 1976

Grasshopper hedgehoppers is a flying fraternity for females only

By ELIZABETH OWEN Staff Writer Barbara Maxey took one helicopter ride 15 years ago and that did it. The 52-year-old Coral Gables housewife has since earned her commercial pilot's license, her single and multi-engine landing license, and her rotorcraft or helicopter pilot's license. "My husband took me for a helicopter ride to an island in Biscayne Bay 15 years ago. I was so impressed watching the heavens, earth, water and birds from the air that when we got back down on the ground, I told Tom I'd like to learn to fly," said Barbara, who lives at 6312 Riviera Dr. "Tom decided that the best way to help me over this crazy idea was to let me take lessons and find out that it wasn't a bed of roses." Tom Maxey was right, of course. Learning to fly is no easy task, and it's expensive to boot. But Barbara was hooked. Barbara is just one of a number of South Dade ladies who have taken up the sport. Local women and fellow female pilots from all over the state have organized into a loosely-knit, zany group known as the "Grasshoppers." Marian Keys, an avid Grasshopper who lives at 5890 SW 82nd St., said the pilots chose the name because they jump from city to city in Florida and the islands each month in their privately owned, rental or family aircraft. "We have about 150 members, and they're from all walks of life," said Marian, who became a pilot in 1970. In addition to competing in "Powder Puff" and "Angel" Derbies, the ladies have a Grasshopper "Fly-In" once a month, she said. Wednesday, May 19, the fly-in was held at Tamiami Airport, and the pilots competed in "power on" and "power off" landings, and "Bomb Drops," where airbound pilots try to drop a bag of flowers on a specific target. Marian said that Grasshoppers can be found at the controls of all types of aircraft. "Their planes range from little single-engine Piper Cubs to 200 mile-per-hour plus twin-engine aircraft costing upwards of $100,000," she said. "They hold licenses running the gamut from private and commercial through instructor and airline transport pilots. They have a wide assortment of ratings - instrument, multi-engine, seaplane, glider and balloon." Unlike most organizations, the Grasshoppers have no meetings, by-laws or officers. They come together simply because of their mutual obsession, and to have a good time, Marian said. Barbara Hughes, a 28-year-old National Airlines stewardess, is another Grasshopper. Barbara, who lives at 8401 SW 107th Ave., has been building, repairing and flying aircraft since she was a child. "I come from a flying family," she said. "My dad, a retired Pan Am pilot, owns Hughes Flying Service; my brother flies for Eastern; and my mother is a Grasshopper along with me. "Whenever I wanted to talk to my dad when I was little, I had to crawl down a fuel line and buck or drive a few rivets. My mother got her license when she was 53 . . . you're never too old to learn to fly," Barbara said. Connie Stafford, another Coral Gables resident, has been flying for 18 years. "I got interested because I was working for the president of Air Carrier Engine Service," said Connie, who lives at 90 Edgewater Dr. "I began flying on weekends and eventually I became a private pilot and flew the boss back and forth to his ranch in Arcadia. "There's no real purpose for the Grasshoppers other than the love of flying. We fly somewhere different each month." Other southwest area Grasshoppers include Katherine Albury, 6101 SW 79th. St.; Terry Gustin, 9031 SW 62nd Terr.; Jena Hakes, 1900 SW 70th Ave.; Gail Hanson, 9840 W. Suburban Dr.; Gloria Hayes, 10321 SW 98th St.; and Fran Sargent, with the Aero Space Department of Miami-Dade Community College South. The Grasshoppers, who enjoy poking fun at themselves, have as their official emblem a grasshopper descending to land while reading a book entitled "How To Land." Marian said that the group, strictly for women, is proud of its discrimination against the opposite sex. And to prove it, she painted on the side of her Cherokee 180: Captain: Marian Keys. Co-pilot, Ed Keys. On occasion, she lets her husband tag along. Photo by ELIZABETH OWEN Make no mistake about it . . . pilot Marian Keys lets husband Ted just tag along

Mickey's being resurrected and SD girl is Mousketeer

By ERICA MEYER Staff Writer If you ask Kelly Parsons to do a few tap dance steps on a concrete sidewalk in a pre-rain wind because you want to take her picture, she does it and she does it well. If you ask her a question about her new role as one of a dozen children chosen nationwide to be a new Walt Disney Mousketeer, she thinks her answers through before she says anything. A calm portrait of young prettiness, adult politeness and poise, Kelly, 12, from SW 29th Street near 78th Avenue, is not a giggler or fantasizer. Asked what she thinks taping the Disney shows will be like, Kelly mentions the eight-hour work day. Asked how it will change her life, she speaks of missing the last three weeks of school and having to leave her friends. The closest the practical 12-year-old will come to expressing dreams of high flown stardom or movie-made money, is an admission that, "when I was little I wanted to be a movie star." She's excited about traveling to California with her mother, Joan Carol Carleton, and she remembers that her mom cried after hanging up the phone when she talked to the Disney people who said they wanted Kelly. Kelly Parsons . . . Little Miss World "I just was quiet for a few minutes," Kelly remembers. "I didn't know what to say." The spotlight isn't brand new to Kelly. She was a Little Miss World winner and has taken many lessons in tap, jazz and ballet dancing at Mary Linick's Studio on Bird Road. She's studied acting with Ruth Foreman and has been in a television commercial as well as numerous small local live performances. She has watched the old Mousketeer show "a few times for about half-hour before I go out to play" but thinks the new one "will be better. They are going to make it more up to date with Mickey Mouse instead of that man, Jimmy, talking to us kids." Her friends and her little sister, Kim, are excited and at Emerson Elementary, they've been singing "M-I-C-K-E-Y" to her. Kim and Graham Carleton, the girls' step-father, will be going out to California to visit during the taping. Kelly doesn't know yet if she'll be there only 13-weeks or almost a year (if the show's initial contract is renewed). "I have to leave my friends," she said, "but I do know one of the other girls they picked. Her name is Lisa. She was next to me in line at the Little Miss World Pageant." You'll know Kelly when you see her on television. She has the faint-blush sunburn of many Florida youngsters and she's a knockout, with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She's the one who hopes the Disney jumpsuits will "be blue, maybe" and the one who only giggles when you ask her if she'll be rich now. "Yeah, I guess," she said, with a chuckle that had just a touch of scorn for such a silly question.

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