Donna Hall, pictured above just before her first-ever airplane ride on Saturday, Sept. 16, explains that flying has long been an item on her bucket list. Ziplining is also on her bucket list, but she hopes to cross the experience off of her list next summer.

Near-centenarian Donna Hall is living proof that it’s never too late to cross an item off of your bucket list.

Donna, who will celebrate her 90th birthday in February, fulfilled a lifelong aspiration when she took to the skies for the very first time last weekend.

“I’d never been on any kind of plane, I’d never been off the ground,” Donna says. “I never, ever thought I’d be able to fly.” 

Her family made her dream a reality, however, on Saturday, Sept. 16.

As it happens, Hall’s grandson, Jordan Lampman, received his pilot’s license about five years ago. He is also a certified plane mechanic.

Jordan takes his father – Donna’s son, Rick – out flying fairly regularly. The pair was airborne over Delavan several weeks ago, and Jordan flew the plane right over Donna’s home in Delavan, although she did not realize it at the time.

“If I knew it was them, I would have gone out and waved at them,” Donna says.

Later, Rick told his mother about the flight, and they got to talking about bucket lists. Upon learning that Donna cherished a desire to fly, Rick conspired with his sisters – Connie Neal and Shar Lampman – to fulfill his mother’s wishes.

The flight was initially meant to be a surprise. And, it was initially scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 10. Connie had Donna ready to go at 7:30 a.m. that morning, as instructed, but the excursion had to be postponed after fog descended in the area.

By the time Donna headed out to the Fairmont Municipal Airport with her daughters the following Saturday, she knew what the surprise was. However, she was no less excited at the prospect of seeing the world from on high.

“I wasn’t nervous, I suppose, because it was family doing it,” Donna recalls. “I thought I would be anxious and nervous, but I wasn’t.” 

In fact, it’s possible that one of Donna’s daughters was more nervous about the flight than she was.

Initially, Donna, Connie and Rick were supposed to accompany Jordan on the flight. However, at the last minute, Rick urged his sister, Shar, to take his place.

“My sister had never flown, either,” Connie says. “It was kind of a double header. She was glad she did it.” 

The family clambered into the Piper Warrior II Jordan shares with the Fairmont Municipal Airport. Donna says this was the most difficult feat of the morning.

“It was hard getting in and out,” she chuckles. She had to first step up onto the plane’s wing, then lower herself down a considerable distance into the cockpit – no easy feat at 89 years old.

After take-off, however, things were smooth sailing.

“It was great,” Donna says. “Amazing – all of those buttons and levers.” 

During the half-hour flight, Jordan circled Fairmont to give his grandmother and aunts a birds-eye view of the lakes. The family also glimpsed Northrup, Rose Lake Golf Course and Granada from above.

“(Donna) had a pretty big smile on her face the whole time we were in the air,” Connie remembers.

It seems Donna has always possessed an adventurous spirit. Reflecting on her life, she says her most fulfilling experiences have involved travel.

“I’ve lived in Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Colorado and now Minnesota,” she recalls. “I’ve been around.” 

Donna says one of her favorite places was Colorado, for its craggy mountains.

She has lived on the outskirts of Delavan for 57 years now, in a house which she and her then-husband found for sale in a 1965 edition of the Faribault County Register.

Donna still receives frequent visits from family members at her home. However, she hopes to get the whole family together for her upcoming 90th birthday party, which will be held at Delavan’s Blu Bair Bar.

‘The whole family’ is quite large. Just in her immediate family, Donna has seven children, five daughters and two sons, 21 grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildren and 15 great-great-grandchildren.

“It’s really amazing, because I have lived longer than most of my first cousins,” she reflects. “I never would have thought I’d live to be 90.” 

It is a good thing she has, however, because Donna Hall still has some unfinished business left on her bucket list.

“If I get to do a zipline, I think I would die happy,” she says. “I’m hoping to do that next summer, providing I’m able.”