Weather cooperates, 800 attend
HOULTON, Maine — The fourth annual Wings and Wheels event drew scores of people to the Houlton International Airport Saturday for a day filled with thrilling aerial acrobatic displays.
“Despite the dire weather predictions earlier in the week, it actually turned out to be a pretty great day,” said Jane Torres, executive director for the Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce.
An estimated 800 paid participants attended this year’s event, which was a little below expectations, but still high enough to please Torres. Wings and Wheels serves as one of the Chamber of Commerce’s major fundraisers for the year. Attendance was higher than last year’s event, which was plagued with storm clouds for much of the day.
The Dan Marcotte Airshow proved to be the most popular attraction as the pilot performed three aerial shows in his small, single-seat plane. The show featured dizzying spins, 90-degree climbs, and flying upside down near the runway.
“People loved Dan Marcotte,” Torres said. “He really took your breath away as he was flying upside down and then shooting straight up and then spiraling back down.”
Weather eventually did force an early ending to the event, as an afternoon thunderstorm rolled through the area.
“The planes had to stop flying because there was so much lightning in the clouds off in the distance,” Torres said. “So we had to shut everything down, but people were very understanding.”
Torres said her favorite part of the day was seeing Dan Hobbs, a 42-year-old resident with Down syndrome, get his wish to jump out of a plane with Vacationland Skydiving.
“The look on Dan’s face after he parachuted back down … he was just so happy,” Torres said. “He said jumping out of a plane was on his bucket list.”
About 24 people took part in the skydiving opportunity, with some of the jumpers having to come back on Sunday to take the plunge due to the weather.
Danielle Brewer of Easton and Wade McCrum of Mars Hill were among some of the first jumpers to glide safely back down to ground. It was Brewer’s first time skydiving, while McCrum has jumped several times.
“Oh my Gosh, that was so incredibly awesome,” Brewer said. “I’m ready to go again. I wasn’t nervous at all. That was just such an overwhelming rush.”
Torres said a wrap-up meeting will be held in the coming weeks to see what items can be improved upon for next year’s event.
