Sebastopol pilot’s big surprise at Wings Over Wine Country air show

A loyal, longtime member of the Pacific Coast Air Museum, 94-year-old Darrel Shumard wouldn’t have missed the Friday evening gala that launched this weekend’s air show at the Sonoma County Airport.

The Sebastopol resident didn’t think much of a request by PCAM buddies to show up a bit early. He arrived wearing the Army Air Corps jacket and white scarf he received upon completion of flight school in 1943.

Look what his friends in the aviation museum had done:

They’d pitched in money to have a pilot from Southern California fly up in a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter - one largely identical to the plane Shumard piloted when he had to bail out over Germany in 1945. He spent the rest of World War II in a prisoner-of-war camp. The aged airman marveled at the thoughtful surprise and at the plane, which can be seen today at the Wings Over Wine Country air show.

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NOW AT THE PLATE: David Charp, the old-time Santa Rosa doc who retired from medicine two years back but not from baseball, walks on air since his moment on the Oakland A’s diamond.

At 72, Dr. Charp pitches in the Redwood Empire Baseball League. You’d have thought he’d been called to the Big Leagues when he got the nod to take the mound in a tournament at the Oakland Coliseum.

His wife, Gail, was in the stands. The two of them met on a New Jersey boardwalk and married 50 years ago.

Unbeknownst to Gail, her husband the pitcher whispered a request to a Coliseum official before the game.

The park announcer carried a microphone onto the field and invited Gail down to home plate. She curbed an impulse to sprint to the nearest exit. Charp dropped to a knee at the plate and said into the mic, “Gail, for 50 more years, please be my wife and partner.”

She said she happily would. Then she returned to her seat and Doc Charp stepped to the mound and prepared for the first batter. The opposing team’s vastly younger pitcher prevailed, and took home the game ball.

But, said Charp, “I got to take home my Gail.”

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GOT LEDERHOSEN? It’s hard to imagine a better reason to pull it from the costume box than the Bavarian Oktoberfest bash in Santa Rosa on Oct. 9 that boasts beer, wine, brats and dance music by the rockin’ Wonder Bread 5.

And there’s this: Proceeds from Cowbells & Lederhosen will benefit the athletes and games of Special Olympics Northern California. To purchase tickets, go to cowbellsoktoberfest.com. You’ll see that the event supports the Special Olympics in Sonoma County as a tribute to Steve Wurzell, who was born with Down syndrome and was an eager, elated competitor until his death in 1981 at age 13.

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TWO TENNIS PROS really will play an exhibition match at the Airport Health Club this week.

It just won’t happen on the day I mentioned the other day. Canadian Davis Cup competitors Philip Bester and Peter Polansky will play at 6 p.m. Thursday.

To reserve a ticket for the game, accompanied by food from Underwood Bar & Grill, email Greg Weksel at gregw@airportclub.com.

The tennis instructor hosts the match in hopes of spreading the love of the game.

Chris Smith is at 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.