Organizers of the Snowbirds air show are smiling this week after a break in the weather put the crowning touch on the team’s dazzling performance over the Fort Frances Airport last Thursday evening.
About 1,500 ticket-holders turned out for the 30-minute show–and that’s not counting the substantial number of children who got in free of charge.
“I was very pleased with everything, especially the way the weather opened up and let us have the show,” said co-ordinator Bruce Caldwell, noting stormy skies just 90 minutes earlier had threatened to cancel the nine-member Snowbirds’ performance.
“It went very well–beyond our expectations,” enthused co-chair Mark Kowalchuk.
“The crowd turnout, the way the weather broke, and the fact that the kids behaved so well made it a success,” he added, referring to the youngsters’ patient behaviour as they waited at the security fencing for autographs from the pilots and technicians afterwards.
Among those on hand for the show was local resident Jane Johnstone, who said she wouldn’t think of missing the Snowbirds, their fourth such performance here since 1989.
But this year’s show also was a sentimental journey for Johnstone, whose son, Brad, was killed in a plane accident in Alaska last July.
“It was absolutely beautiful and I was overwhelmed,” she said Monday.
“Brad loved [to fly] and I wouldn’t have missed [the show].”
To top it off, the Snowbirds dedicated their final formation of the evening in memory of Brad although Johnstone missed hearing the dedication over the speaker system–and didn’t find out about it until later.
But in hindsight, Johnstone wasn’t disappointed, noting the realization would have been extremely emotional for her.
“It honoured my family so much that the [Snowbirds] flew in Brad’s memory,” she stressed. “And it is such an honour for the [district] to have the Snowbirds come all of the way here.”
The Snowbirds’ performance here was a non-profit project arranged in conjunction with the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
