The Santa Barbara Soaring Association is organizing a memorial service for Marge Variano for December 10 at 4 p.m. The well-known paragliding instructor, who moved to North Carolina about 18 months ago, died in a tragic accident while flying on Thanksgiving Day. She’s is also remembered as the principal at Adams Elementary School from 2007-2009 who was happiest when among children. The location for the service will be determined once the size of the crowd has been ascertained. Guests are asked to RSVP to the Soaring Association website: sbsa.info.
Area paragliders have also organized the Marge Variano Memorial Fund. They plan to donate half the funds to Santa Barbara’s Search and Rescue squad — which spent arduous hours bringing Variano’s body out of an inaccessible canyon — and to the reading program she was spearheading in her North Carolina district. According to friend Rob Sporrer, owner of Eagle Paragliding, Variano’s work in the district had dramatically increased reading abilities among kindergartners. Donations to the Marge Variano Memorial Fund can be made through the Cloudbase Foundation or the Soaring Association.