Photos provided With veteran jumper Jay Stokes strapped to his back, Mogan Miers (top photo) reached speeds of 125 mph. Once safely on the ground (above), Miers celebrated his jump with a glass of champagne.

During his 86 years, Morgan Miers, BS '41, has been offered plenty of advice. Even followed some of it. But when someone told him, "Morgan, you just don't jump out of a good airplane," well, that advice, just like Morgan, went right out the window.

At 13,000 feet.

It started as a fund-raising event for the Greensburg, Ind., United Fund.

"Each year, we try to get kind of a gag gift that doesn't cost much and then some people work the bidding up so that it ends up as a nice donation to the United Fund," explained David Miers, BS '70, who operates Miers Farm Corp. near Greensburg.

But he certainly didn't think his 86-year-old father would be locked in a bidding war for the right to skydive out of an airplane.

"I never really had the chance to skydive," Morgan says, "so when the opportunity came along, I took advantage of it."

Greensburg businessman Don Lowe, BS '67, found out about Morgan's desire to jump. And when the bidding started, Lowe got busy.

"The Miers family has been so wonderful to our community and to our family in particular," Lowe says, "so I just thought getting that skydiving jump for Morgan would be a nice way of saying thanks for all they have done for us."

Great plan. But somebody should have told Morgan. Spurred on by spectators who kept chanting his name with each escalating bid, Morgan got locked in a bidding war with Lowe.

The price of the jump rose faster than a skydiver falls. From $1,000 to $2,000.up to $3,900 for the seven-minute thrill ride.

"Tell your dad to shut up," Lowe told David Miers, "he's going to get the jump anyway." Lowe bought the jump for $4,000, then turned the gift over to his lifelong family friend.

"It was all for a good cause," Lowe says, "and worth every penny."

With professional skydiver Jay Stokes (with over 14,000 jumps to his credit) strapped to his back, Miers made his jump on June 25.

"It just seemed like a good day to jump out of a plane," he says.

While family and friends may have had some reservations about the 86-year-old leaping out of an airplane, over 100 of them showed up on jump day to cheer him on.

"Nobody told me not to do it," Miers says, "but then again, nobody told me to do it, either."

Reaching speeds of 125 miles per hour, Miers and Stokes plummeted from 13,000 to 5,000 feet in about one minute of free falling. Their chute deployed and the duo drifted to the ground at the much more leisurely speed of 5 miles per hour.

"It was a great time, certainly an exhilarating experience," Miers says.

"He did great," says Bob Daugherty, owner of Skydive Greensburg, who donated the jump to the United Fund and was not too concerned about the liability of an 86-year-old skydiver.

"Last year we had a guy jump that was 94 years old."

Miers took his time celebrating his seven-minute jump that was 86 years in the making. Champagne and hors d'oeuvres for everyone as they watched a videotaped replay of the jump.

Will he jump again? Probably not. But that doesn't mean Miers' adventures are over.

"I don't know what I'll do," he says. "We'll have to come up with something. There's always something to do."

Contact Miers at david@miersfarm.com