PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — People who want to parachute out of a plane from more than 10,000 feet will have their chance this Saturday in Presque Isle during the second annual skydiving event organized by Maine School Administrative District 1’s Adult and Community Education program.
Last year, the adult education program decided to partner with Pittsfield, Maine-based Vacationland Skydiving to offer the high adrenaline activity as a unique experience for people in Aroostook County, said Amanda Conroy, MSAD 1 Adult Ed administrative secretary.
“We like to be able to give people in the area the opportunity to do something they couldn’t necessarily do,” Conroy said. “Not very many people would travel downstate to do skydiving and it’s something that may be on somebody’s bucket list.”
The skydiving activity costs $249 per person and jumpers must be at least 18 years old, be in good physical health and weigh less than 230 pounds, Conroy said.
This Saturday, 25 people are registered to jump and and there’s room for more, Conroy said. Anyone interested can call the SAD 1 adult education program at 764-4776, register online or register the day of the event, she said.
It kicks off at 8 a.m. Saturday from the general aviation terminal at the Northern Maine Regional Airport, where there also will be a spectator’s area for people to watch, Conroy said.
The crew from Vacationland Skydiving will be holding safety training with participants and then taking off from the airport’s private runway to do the dives with two jumpers at a time, who will be strapped together with a tandem parachute.
Among the participants this year are MSAD 1 adult education Director LeRae Kinney, who’ll be jumping for the second year in a row, and a diverse array of area residents, Conroy said. They include a husband and wife couple, a mother and son, and two people who are celebrating their life after battling cancer, Conroy said.
“It’s going to be a great day,” she said.
