Gainesville Composite Squadron of Civil Air Patrol continued an annual tradition by presenting the Blaser Memorial Aerospace and Aviation Awards at the Alachua County Regional Science Fair.  The awards are named for Russ and Carol Blaser, members of the squadron who perished in a 2002 aircraft accident.

Members of the Gainesville squadron judged the projects and presented cash awards to one winner each in the Junior and Senior divisions. In the Junior division, Robbie Pinney received honors for his project entitled “Rockets In Flight.” In the Senior division, Larry Warren won for his project “The Effect of Wing Design on Lift and Drag Principles.” The students were presented their awards by Gainesville squadron commander, 1st Lt Leslie Ballard, at a ceremony at Gainesville High School.

The Gainesville Composite Squadron has presented this regional award for several years as an aerospace outreach project under the direction of 1st Lt Susan King and is endeavoring to expand to neighboring counties next year.