Thursday, May 15, 2014
VIENNA
Final preparations are underway for the 2014 Thunder Over the Valley Air Show on Saturday and Sunday at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna.
The Thunderbirds arrived with a flourish Tuesday morning; and other military and civilian air acts and static displays are setting up for the weekend show.
The gates open at 9 a.m. each day, opening ceremonies are at 11:45 a.m., and the air show demonstrations are from noon to 5 p.m.
Thunder Over the Valley, featuring the Thunderbirds, was last at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station, headquarters for the 910th Airlift Wing, in 2009.
The show is free with no tickets required.
Potential visitors are urged to follow Thunder Over the Valley on Facebook at facebook.com/youngstownars or visit the website, www.thunderoverthevalley.com.
Visitors can see many of the performers’ aircraft, including the B-17, B-25 and C47 historic warbirds from Yankee Air Museum; Dave Folk’s F-4U Corsair; and the Quick Silver P-51 Mustang, show officials said.
Air-show guests must park at designated locations and be shuttled to the show via Community Bus Services at a cost of $5 per seat.
The two primary public-parking areas where air show visitors must park to be shuttled to the show grounds are: Eastwood Field at the Eastwood Mall, 111 Eastwood Mall Blvd., Niles; and Delphi-Packard Electric parking lot, 165 N. River Road, Warren, at the corner of North River Road and Larchmont Avenue.
On show days, tune in to 93.3 FM, 95.9 FM, 98.9 FM, 106.1 FM, 570 AM or 1390 AM for real-time parking and traffic updates and information on overflow parking lots should they be required.
The Youngstown Air Reserve Base Community Council is handling sponsorships of the 2014 show and was responsible for raising about two-thirds of the half-million dollars needed to make the show a reality.
The Air Force footed the bill for most of the 2009 show, but for this year’s show only paid for the military aspects, meaning the Base Community Council needed to get about $300,000 in sponsorships, said Holly Baker, who led the successful financial campaign that raised $283,000.
“We essentially met our goal. I truly want visitors to look around and see the sponsor signs and patronize their businesses and thank them. We would not have a show without them. I think the response was incredible,” Baker added.
The air show is a community event, and this time the community funded the civilian portion, said Air Force Col. James D. Dignan, commander of YARS and the 910th Airlift Wing.
Having the air show is important to the community and the base, Baker said.
YARS is the only Air Force Reserve base among 16 shows in the United States this year that feature the Thunderbirds.
The community has proved its support of the air reserve station, she said.