Ballard, Ron & Susie Community Enrichment Fund (Unrestricted)

Susie enjoys being a homemaker and attending auctions and antique shows.  She is an avid collector of Fenton Art Glass.  Numerous pieces of Fenton glassware from her personal collection have been featured in several Fenton Identification and Price Guide publications.  She belongs to three national Fenton Collectors’ Organizations and has attended national conventions since 1992.

 

Ron began his lifelong career of repairing automobiles during his senior year at Bellmont High School while enrolled in the Industrial Cooperative Training Program.  He remained employed in the collision repair field until 1979, at which time he opened R.B.’s Body Shop at his residence.  In 1988 he moved the business to US 27 South in Decatur, and in April 2003, he purchased property at 1027 Southampton Drive (behind the Back 40 Restaurant).  Ron holds a Masters Degree in refinishing from PPG Industries, attaining that level after 14 years of training and study.  He is still an active member of the ICT Advisory Board at BHS.  Ron was also one of the founding board members for the Boys and Girls Club of Decatur.

 

Ron, a private pilot since 1988, enjoys full-scale aviation and holds both an instrument rating as well as a high performance certification.  Ron has supported the Young Eagles program, which introduces young people (6 to 16) to their first flying experience for more than 20 years.  Ron is also heavily involved in the sport of radio-controlled aviation, having managed the nationally known Spirit of America Air  Show Team for three years.  He has held the position of Associate Vice President for the Academy of Model Aeronautics for over 30 years.  Along with his passion for aviation, Ron has served as a 4-H Judge of Adams County and surrounding areas for the past 20 years, judging models and rocketry at all levels.  In February of 2008, Ron formed a partnership with a company in England and recently launched Wren Turbines USA. The company designs and builds miniature turbine engines for use in the modeling and filming industries.