Calvin Students Get Their Hovercraft

May 24, 2006 == MEDIA ADVISORY

In early May an enterprising group of Calvin College students journeyed to
Deptford, New Jersey to pay for and take possession of a 1986 Scatt II
hovercraft.

It marked the culmination of a three-plus year journey, a milestone members of
the collective thought might never be reached.

"It is surreal to see that which we have collectively daydreamed about for
almost four years as an accomplished goal," says Chad Vickery, a senior mass
media major from Ada, Michigan, and founding member of the Hovercraft
Collective, which was established in 2002 when Vickery, Samuel de Walle, Daniel
Spalink and Dave Riley were first-year students in the Van Dellen residence
hall at Calvin.

The group's freshman goal was to build a helicopter! Eventually they settled
on a hovercraft and adopted what has become a mantra for the collective:
"Because it regards not the surface on which it travels."

To raise money for their hovercraft, the group collected spare change, pop
bottles, held a bachelor auction and sold t-shirts. The last venture netted
them the most cash. Included with the shirt was the promise of a free ride on
the hovercraft. They now owe 400 rides!

They ended up buying the Scatt II on eBay in April and picked it up soon
thereafter. They plan to keep the hovercraft until they go their separate ways
and then will sell it on eBay and give the proceeds to charity.

For the full story, including a picture, see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2005_06/hovercraft.htm
For more on the Collective see www.theaardvark.org

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Received on Wed May 24 15:10:29 2006