GRAVETTE — A Pennsylvania man whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. Warren Clough, live in Sulphur Springs is being honored Saturday, April 9, in Virginia Beach, Va.

John Clough will be recognized at the annual Gathering of the Eagles Banquet for his outstanding charitable contributions to Angel Flight, a nonprofit organization which provides air transportation to medical facilities.

Clough never made his home in Sulphur Springs. As he said, “I left the nest before my family moved with Shiloh to Sulphur Springs in 1968.” His brother Paul graduated from Gravette High School.

Clough has spent much time visiting his family and the Shiloh bakery, which he purchased several years ago. Because of transportation costs, he later moved the operation to Maryland to be near the point of distribution for the products throughout the northeast.

He owns and operates Garden Spot Distributors near Lancaster, Penn., and with his wife Ruth makes his home in New Holland.

In a newspaper article which his father shared with the Eagle Observer, Clough is quoted: “My whole life is dedicated to serving people ... Making people happy and helping them is the most important thing I do.”

He provides air transportation through the Angel Flight organization. “There is never a fee to the patient or the health care provider for an Angel Flight. The pilots provide their services on their own time and on their own dime,” Clough said. He can transport up to three passengers at a time in his Mooney Ovation airplane.

He began flying 40 years ago and has been a volunteer with Angel Flight for the past 10 years. He said he “got hooked on planes for the rest of my life” after the husband of his second-grade teacher flew a plane around and around over the school playground during recess. He became a pilot when he was 25.

The call for an emergency flight can come at any time, day or night, the father of six and grandfather of seven said. “I always start my flights with a prayer.”

Some people thank him, some hug him, he related, and some are too sick to even engage in conversation. “My reward is knowing that I’m serving God in a way that allows me to help people in need,” he said.

He acknowledge it’s expensive. Besides fuel, the costs associated with flying patients include insurance, airport fees and sometimes airplane rental. It costs about $250 for every hour and the average flight is three hours. “I’m glad I’vebeen blessed with resources to do it,” he said.

“Some need to go for weekly treatments in a different state. Sometimes they need to get to a distant hospital quickly because an organ transplant has become available for transport,” he said. “I’m there to make that happen ... and besides,” he chuckled, “flying is fun.”

News, Pages 2 on 04/06/2011