Chapter History

The Sacramento Valley chapter was chartered on November 16, 1947 with seven members. Bay Cities was the sponsoring chapter. Charter members at that time included Dorothy Barden, Coral Bloom, Wanda Wagner Daniel, Dorothy Vernon Grieve, Leah Johnson, Reta L. Sutherland, and Eleanor T. Verkuyl.

Very little was recorded of the chapter’s activities during its first ten years since there were no fund raising events or formal meetings with minutes. The meetings mainly consisted of a fly-in for lunch. With help from several members, an archive was compiled describing the chapter’s many activities since 1957.

See the Newspaper Articles page for detailed stories about some of our members.

• Hosted Southwest Section Meetings in 1960, 1969, 1983, and 1993

• In 1966, sponsored the Mt. Diablo Chapter

• Hosted the start of the last Powder Puff Derby in July 1976. 200 airplanes took off from Sacramento Executive Airport. Five teams from Sacramento Valley chapter flew the race from Sacramento to Wilmington, Delaware.

• Airmarked many Northern California airports

• Helped judge NIFA events

• Helped develop the Shirley's Angels Emergency Protocol

• Continues to hold "Flying Companion Seminars"

• Offers scholarship opportunities

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Chapter Highlights:

Sacramento Valley’s members have been active in the Southwest Section with five members becoming Section governors: Geraldine Mickelson, Thelma Cull, Shirley Winn, Lois Erickson, and Penny Nagy. Three members became International President: Geraldine Mickelsen 1953, Barbara Sestito 1986, and Lois Erickson 1996.