09/20/2026
Lake Cushman Bratt Bash came off without a hitch.
The rain waited and temps were perfect Saturday Sept 12th. The morning had no restrictions to visibility, smoke or fog, and the winds were near calm. The Cushman Splash had been our end of summer gathering tradition that many of you had said you missed and would like to see us bring it back.
We had 14 members registered and we expected about 24 mouths to feed. I think I was the only one to drive in, we had two no shows, but two last minute calls to let us know they were coming. So, we had 13 planes on the beach, thanks to all that made the effort and a special thank you to those that traveled the greatest distance to attend; Sonia Bynum and Jonathan Buss from the Portland area and Garret MacDonald from Coeur d'Alene . A friend of WSPA, Cara Griffith, who lives near to Lake Cushman, came over with her baby (and future pilot!) to say hello.
I’d initially panicked with the current burn ban to include no charcoal fires; they have some great BBQs on site that we couldn’t use. Propane was okay though. I’ve got a small camp grill and Alex loaned us a second one so those worked out well for our small group. Don brought drinks, swag, and all the fussy stuff needed to serve it up and we had more than enough desserts and stuff that nobody went away hungry.
The ramp wouldn’t have worked out for amphibious floats as we thought, bigger tires of “boats” would have been okay and surprisingly the park folks had no problem if we wanted to park our planes in the boat launch area. Good to know for future events, a few asked too about the campgrounds. Looks like a great spot if you’d like to spend a few nights during the season. Now you’d have to be careful as they are draining the lake down nearly a foot a day to make room for the rainy season.
The common questions we had that seemed to be on everyone’s mind was, “why don’t we do things like this more often?” And, “is there a way to get in touch with other members?” I think the answer to the first question is that our two big events during the year, Grounded Hogs and Priest Lake are such big productions that we spend all year working on some aspect of those events. The answer to the second question at this point is that we’ve found many members do not want their information to be available to the public.
We’d welcome your comment suggestions on both matters. As a suggestion for small splash events, I think if you mention it, they will come – how? “Sponsor” or organize an event. By this I mean if you know a great spot, check it out and let us know. We can publish “your event” and coordinate it with you. Personally, I’d like to see several events, just a meet for lunch bunch where we bring our own to enjoy an afternoon together.
I’ll discuss with the board the idea too of a member’s only directory where you can have the option to opt in or out as you please. Talk it up with others, discuss it with other board member that you may know, or feel free to get in touch with me by phone, text or email. 360-710-5793 or [email protected]
We look forward to hearing from you . . .
Bee Sea n’ya,
Bruce Hinds
Republic Seabee, N12CX
