DZO Marcie Anne Smith permanently commemorates the formation with a tattoo.

The 48-way “dream formation” and state record comes together. Photo above by Mark Kirschenbaum/Hypoxic.

Marcie Anne Smith, owner of Cleveland Skydiving Center in Garrettsville, Ohio, arranged a 48-way skydive that was dear to her heart for her DZ’s 10-Year Anniversary Boogie. As a child growing up in the sport, Smith was enthralled with the visual layout of this particular skydive. Once licensed, she saw this same formation in a logbook and pledged to be part of it someday.

To make it happen, she brought in All American Big-Way’s Douglas Barron and Heroes Skydiving’s Louis French to organize. For the heavy lifting, she ferried a Skyvan and a Twin Otter from Skydive Chicago in Ottawa, Illinois, to supplement the Kodiak the DZ uses throughout the season. Stacked with local talent, only a handful of participants were from out of state. This truly was an Ohio-homegrown event!

Impressively, the jumpers built the formation in only three attempts. To the participants’ surprise, the formation also earned the Ohio Record for Largest Formation Skydive, crushing the last state record of a 33-way! To cement the experience, Smith hired tattoo artist and skydiver Jamie Elliot to ink the formation permanently onto her upper back. It was her very first tattoo and shows her dedication to this formation and anniversary event.

Mark Kirschenbaum | D-28511
Chandler, Arizona