This has been a very exciting week for Skip, and his family, more exciting than we had anticipated going into our final two weeks of planning before getting on the road.
As you may know, Archer Bailey, Skip's father, was employed as an Air Traffic Controller, and a proud member of PATCO, Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization. But on August 3rd, 1981, President Reagan changed all that.
When PATCO controller's had no other choice but to go on strike against the FAA because of deplorable work conditions, the Reagan Administration had over 11,000 Air Traffic Controllers fired and hundreds of them were thrown in jail. President Reagan then banned them from their profession for life, and by October 1981, PATCO had been decertified and eventually went bankrupt.
PATCO was re-formed in 1996 as an independent, autonomous organization, by one of it's original founders, Brother Jack Maher. PATCO's member's never stopped fighting for those who lost their jobs.
Ron Taylor, PATCO's President, very recently heard of Skip's bike trip across America from Skip's mom, Cindy Bailey. He quickly wanted to get involved, and offered to help sponsor Skip, in honor of his PATCO Brother, Archer Bailey. Both Ron and Arch had fought hard for all those jobs lost on that ominous day on August 3rd, 1981.
So, with the wonderful help of Ron, and his PATCO team, our adventure is growing!!!!
Arch has also made arrangements to join his son, and cheer him along his way across the USA. Skip, L-E ( our loving golden retriever, and mascot! ) and myself ( Skip's fiancee ) will be joining up with Arch on August 4th, 2009 in Astoria, OR. where we will begin this adventure.
If you'd like more information on PATCO, please hit the link below!
