midtoad’s mess.ages
excellence in creative mediocrity

On Saturday April 30th, friends and family gathered at the Cochrane Ranche for a celebration of the life of Chris Muller. Over 500 people jammed the hall to hear family and flying friends speak about what Chris meant to them. Several videos were shown, some made by Chris himself. Rob Kells from Wills Wing gave the closing remarks.

After the formal ceremony, we gathered in the building for a drink, then the party continued at the Muller quonset hut until the wee hours of the morning. I have never seen more people jammed into that building, ever.

People came from across North America, and Europe, to take part. Travelling furthest were Chris’ friend Matt, from France, and his fiancée Tina, from Norway. From the US came Rob Kells, Rob McKenzie, Othar Lawrence, Chris Santacroce. And from Canada came many pilots from across the country, including many that no longer are active in the sport. In the photo gallery, you may see a few familiar faces from the recent or distant past.

The last few days, the weather has been uncharacteristically cold, and during the celebration the wind blew hard out of the north, with the temperature dropping below freezing. But Sunday morning, at the impossibly early hour of 9:30, and while all other birds in the area were seen flapping, Vincene, Esther Muller, and Martin Polach watched a hawk slowly and gracefully thermal up from the flag on the edge of Cochrane Hill. Godspeed, Chris, we will miss you.