GREENVILLE Here's something to fall for: skydiving festival and contest

Visitors will get a chance to make tandem parachute jumps with instructors.
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- Greenville Municipal Airport, on Jamestown Road, will be the site of the 12th annual Stefan Banic Skydiving Festival and the 4th annual Pennsylvania State Parachuting Championships on Friday, Saturday and next Sunday.
The event was established to honor the memory of Slovak immigrant Stefan Banic, who was living in Greenville when he received the first U.S. patent for the parachute.
The local Slovak community will participate with displays of native foods and crafts, and dignitaries from the Slovak Embassy will attend again this year, said state Sen. Robert Robbins of Greenville, R-50th, a co-founder of the Stefan Banic Parachute Foundation.
The "Banic Boogie" kicks off with skydiving Friday evening, and skydiving and parachute competitions begin at 9 a.m. Saturday.
The public also will get a chance to jump with skydivers offering tandem jumps in which novices are attached to a jumper.
A Pennsylvania National Guard Chinook helicopter will arrive at 10 a.m. Saturday and drop a 15-member skydiving team.
Music and cars
The Greenville Caribbean Connection steel drum band will perform from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, followed by a 21-gun howitzer salute at 5 p.m. and a Slovak dance performance at 6 p.m.
Military displays and demonstrations will go on throughout the day Saturday.
A vintage car cruise is set for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, and there will be more skydiving.
Parking passes are available at $2 per car and are good for the entire weekend. Local nonprofit groups will be selling food and beverages on site.
Skydive Pennsylvania of Grove City coordinates all of the skydiving competitions, which are expected to draw competitors from across the United States.