Meet the Elf-venturous
Seven elves are taking a break from the workshop this Saturday, Dec. 13 to skydive into Pik N Pig during the restaurant’s annual Santa Fly-in. These skydiving elves, complete with costume, are partnering with Skydive Paraclete XP for the event. After they land, Santa will arrive in a small, private plane.
“In the past it was like ‘Oh, cool, jumpers! Oh, there’s Santa!’ They didn’t realize these are world class skydivers,” says Matt Garner, one of the jumpers and this year’s group organizer. Other jumpers include: Robin Jandle, Derek Dutton, Marcus Denniston, Jon Pemberton, Trip Johnson and Anthony Armendariz, all of whom have thousands of jumps and skydive competitively for several teams.
Robin says she’s excited to interact with kids in the audience, who will watch them pack their parachutes and learn more about the sport. “It’s a good opportunity to show them it’s safe and put skydiving in a positive light,” she says.
“Mix that with the spirit of Christmas? It’s the best of both worlds,” adds Anthony.
Despite competing in World Cup championships in places like South Africa, Robin says she gets more nervous for demos than competition. Demos include a lot more logistics, crowd control and other factors, meaning “you almost have to be even more precise.”
Anthony, who recently competed in the artistic freestyle world championship, says this jump is all about camaraderie. This will be his second year jumping at Pik N Pig.
“It’s one thing to fly above the community every day. It’s another thing to be on the ground interacting with the public and introducing more people to what we do at XP everyday,” says Matt.
While jumping in costumes is different than being in a jumpsuit, they agree that it’s a fun tradition. The group doesn’t yet have elf names but don’t worry, we’ve been sending suggestions.
The flight from Paraclete XP in Raeford is roughly 15 minutes to the Gilliam McConnell Airfield and they plan to jump right at 1 p.m. That means you’ll want to get there early (like really early) to find a spot. Santa will fly in via plane afterward and both elves and Santa will be available for photos.
