Mark’s Musings – September 21, 2016
Mark Fortune
Did you make it to the 2016 Wings Over Coshocton Air Show? Fantastic, tremendous, stupendous and fabulous are just a few of the words that I can use to describe this event. Bethel and Connie Toler and ALL of the folks that contributed their time, talent and treasure to make the 2016 edition one to remember deserve our appreciation and thanks. It takes many, many invested hours to pull off an event of this magnitude in our small community and they did it with gusto.
Seeing the magnificent U. S. Navy F-18 Super Hornet take flight was worth the price of admission alone. The ground shook beneath the feet as the twin tailed monster lit the afterburners and rolled down the runway in a first at our very own Richard Downing Airport.
The F-18, which for all intents and purposes replaced the F-14 Tomcat as the Navy’s premier tactical fighter aircraft–the plane made famous by Tom Cruise in “Top Gun”, is manufactured by Boeing with many of the parts made right here in Ohio. Dr. James V. (Jim) Kleinknecht served as this year’s Grand Marshall and talked about the early years of literally getting the airport “off the ground” at the opening ceremony. You did a great job Jim.
This year’s show was notably absent one great performer and an even greater man, Jim “Fang” Maroney, who was killed flying his beloved Super Chipmunk while enroute to an air show in 2014. He was missed and the air show was dedicated to his memory. Craig Casey talked fondly about his friendship with “Fang” during the opening ceremony on Saturday morning.
While the F-18 was the star of the show, all of the performers outdid themselves in the air and on the ground. Jason Flood was marvelous and the Misty Blues delivered the large American Flag right on cue at the start of the performance.
It was a great weekend of flying, food and friendship as people of all ages applauded the performances and the pilots.
The Richard Downing Airport is a valuable asset for our community and should not be taken lightly. Today, business leaders and decision makers may very well consider the airport assets of a community as a primary need before taking any next steps. In today’s very mobile and increasingly smaller global world, the footprint of our airport looms larger and larger as a vehicle for growth in Coshocton County.
Now let’s turn our attention to the next major event on the local calendar–the grand-daddy of ‘em all–the 165th annual Coshocton County Fair. What’s your plan? For eating of course. Is it the French Fries, cotton candy, candy or caramel apples, popcorn, a local food stand with terrific sandwiches, chicken and noodles and of course, a couple of pieces of pie to top it all off!
The folks that bring us the county fair put in a lot of hours for not very much in return-a simple “thank you” will go a long ways to show our appreciation for the time and energy that these men and women invest to ensure that the fair runs smoothly and that people enjoy themselves in a great environment. It’s a real fair – so let’s go!
Category: Mark's Musings, Opinion
