Windy City chapter.

For those interested in knowing how the Association of Old Crows got its name, a reprint of the old 1988 WindJammer article by Frank Voltaggio Jr. below should answer your question:

"A question that constantly comes up is why do we call ourselves Old Crows? Well, the truth is that we do not owe our origins to the bourbon whiskey that happens to share the name. As a matter of fact, the Old Crow Distillery, which produces Old Crow whiskey, was quite intrigued with the AOC when they first learned of our existence in 1964, and they used to supply all kinds of gadgetry that carried their own Old Crow symbol (the tuxedoed crow with a top hat and cane): key chains, plastic statues, Zippo lighters, miniature samples of their whiskey, etc. The distillery gave up the practice after a few years went by and they found out that we were drinking more Jack Daniels than Old Crow!

The origin of our name comes from the word "Raven," which was the code name used for radio/radar countermeasures by the military services during World War II. The crew members who operated this equipment were referred to as the Raven operators, eventually just as Ravens. After the war ended and a separate Air Force had been established by the National Security Act of 1947, the Strategic Air Command (a major operating command in the new Air Force) set up a school to train personnel sorely needed for the Raven specialty. One of the students at this school, John W. Paup, got in the habit of referring to his instructors, mostly Ravens who had seen action in World War II, as 'those old Crows.' The label caught on, and pretty soon everyone was using, designation Crow; especially since the use of Raven as an official code word had expired with the War's end and with the reorganization of the Defense establishment. John went on to an illustrious career in electronic warfare, before passing away in 1968. In 1985 he was voted into the AOC Hall of Fame."

Now, in the May 2005 issue of WindJammer, the front-page story is about their Annual Local Awards and Scholarship Dinner held in February. Joe Duthie, chapter president, was the master of ceremonies. He introduced scholarship family members, university staff, scholarship recipients, and the local chapter recognition award winners. Planners of the event were Ellen Hamilton, Jennifer Harnish, Karen Cilano, Sharon Kuzmiak, Becki Heiliczer, and Mark Kilduff. The photographer was Louis Peter.... Also in March this year, as they have done since 1989, Windy City furnished judges for the Illinois Junior Academy of Sciences regional fair, with Bill McConnell spearheading. The 7th and 8 graders competed in electronics, computer science, engineering, physics, and aerospace science.