long as she lived. If true, he kept that
promise. He didn’t fly from when he
left the Air corp until he bought his
Grummond AA1B back around 1981,
a few years after his mother died. After
32 years, he hadn’t forgotten a thing!
Of course, he had the Grummond
souped up from 108 to 160 horsepower
and flew it like it was stolen most of
the time. John Tinney told me that
if Page wanted a seafood platter, he
would just jump in the plane and fly
down to Florida and get one. Heck, it
was probably still warm when he got
back based on his need for speed! John
also remembers meeting Page many
years ago just a short time after he
hung out his shingle. Page came into
his office and offered John a ”piece of
advice.” Advice John said he lived by
throughout his career. Page told him
that he could be an ostrich or not.
If he lives like an ostrich, he would
bury his head in the sand in times
of trouble, usually finding the same
trouble when he removed it, only to
bury it again. If he lives this way, he
will fail. “Live not like an ostrich,” he
said. Simple yet powerful advice to
someone who grew to be one of the
most respected lawyers in the state of
Alabama. But Page lived by example.
He never put his head in the sand.
Another thing I’d like to mention
because I can now is that Page never
turned down a request to help a worthy
cause. He donated many times to
the Roanoke City School System. He
furnished classrooms and put money in
other programs for the kids. He helped
with things needed at the hospital
as well. He was an incredibly selfless
person and loved his community. Page
also loved a challenge. I would say he
needed it to feel alive. Every problem
was an opportunity and he faced them
head on throughout his life. But with
that came the other side of Page.
Ask any pilot that knew Page
Enloe and they would all agree. He was
one of the best pilots they ever knew
if not the best. Sid Hare, a career pilot,
as well as, Col. Rick Seymore told me
that Page had a penny hanging in his
cockpit. He could do a barrel roll and
the penny never moved or lost tension
in the string it hung from, defying
gravity. This takes skill that people who
have flown their whole life can’t do. The
penny was there, I think, because Page
wouldn’t hang anything more valuable.
Rick once epoxied a quarter to the
tarmac near where Page would hang
out with the intention of Page trying to
pick it up. Well, he tried and he failed
with Rick laughing to himself. Later,
Rick came out to the airfield to find
the quarter gone and a penny glued
in its place and is there to this day!
And Sid told me a story from 1984
when he and some friends went on
a dove hunt near Krystal Lake. Page
was hunting too, but not for doves!
He was barely off the ground, flying
as fast as the Grummond would go
but the wind was at his back and they
heard him coming. Next thing they saw
was the bottom of Page’s aircraft as it
pulled straight up to avoid the power
lines that Page apparently didn’t notice
until the last second. He bounced the
wheels off the guide wire, breaking the
wheel skirt and flattening the tire. Just
a split second late and he would have
been slung to the ground. The tension
of the wire being pulled shorted the
power lines, knocking out the power
to half of Roanoke. Page landed his
busted plane and managed to push it
into the hanger or maybe pulled it in
straight, stories differ. Then he jumped
into another plane with John Swann
and they flew to an airshow down
in Auburn. A perfect alibi! Sid said
that they all loved Page and would’ve
never ratted on him anyway. Sid’s son,
Nick, is a pilot today because of Page’s
influence, flying F16’s in the reserves.
Sid told me that dogfighting in the skies
above Randolph County motivated his
son to pursue flight. Sid also told me
he can’t recall a single time that Page
refused someone a ride if they asked.
LAKE WEDOWEE LIFE 35