Airport plans fly-in

It was an idea that had been tossed

around by the airport board for years. The Mineral County Chamber

of Commerce also tossed the idea around for years. Then, during

their November meeting, the chamber set a tentative date to hold a

fly-in out at the airport. The date has been set for Aug. 14,

2011.

“We had tossed the idea around for a

few years and the chamber stepped up and wanted to do it. Local

pilots and the board have jumped on board with them to help,” said

Jeff Carlson, of the airport board.”I think bringing outside

aircraft in for a day will give them a chance to look at what we

have as far as the airport goes. I think it will show them that

it’s pretty accessible with gas and a courtesy car.”

According to Mary Jo Berry, the chamber

wants to bring people into Mineral County and show them what the

county has to offer. She said that the airport could play a pivotal

role in bringing people to the county if they know that it

exists.

“It’s like the airport’s a secret,”

Berry said. “People aren’t aware that we have it.”

To start things off, Berry said that

the chamber had Randy Garrison from Plains come down and speak to

them about the fly-in they hold every year in Sanders County.

“He came down and told us how they did

it up in Plains and made some suggestions to us,” Berry said. “He

said that it would be important to get the county commissioners

involved and to look at a date…a date that was between the fly-ins

happening around us so we might attract pilots as far away as

Spokane.”

Up to this point, the chamber has held

four meeting discussing the fly-in and has created a committee to

help with the event. The general idea is that on an invitation will

be given out to area pilots, inviting them to fly-in to the airport

next August. There will be a pancake breakfast and plenty of

activities for pilots and residents to do. Berry said they’ve been

talking about airplane rides and other things to do.

“It has the potential to be huge,”

Berry said. “We could have well over a 100 planes.”

Berry said that they really want to try

to get the pilots to stay an extra day in the county. She said that

the idea is to get them to come in and explore what the county has

to offer.

“We want to bring people into the area

and we want them to stay and visit Mineral County. There’s so much

here and so many things to do. And it will be good for

everyone.”

Carlson said that he believes that the

event could also open the door to more possibilities at the

airport.

“They can come in and we can talk to

them about our future ideas,” Carlson said. “We’re looking very

forward to help putting this on. We’re pretty excited. This will be

the first time we’ve had one in our valley and I think it will be a

lot of fun not only for the pilots, but for those local. They can

go out and look at the planes.”

Berry also agreed that the fly-in could

lead to bigger opportunities for the airport.

“We’ve talked a lot about it being a

hub for UPS and all it takes is getting the right person out and

seeing the potential,” Berry said.

Carlson said that holding the first

fly-in is always the toughest as no one has ever come to it before

and it all depends on the date selected. The date selected does

fall between others and Carlson said that the Mineral County fly-in

could prove to be just as successful as some others, even if it’s a

bit smaller the first time around.

“If we take some time to put it

together, everything will fall right into place,” he said.

Both Berry and Carlson said that it is

going to take a lot of volunteers and help to help the fly-in

become a success. Aside from the fly-in, they both hope to hold a

dedication ceremony to dedicate the airport as it has never

actually been dedicated.

“We’re going to need help with lots of

things,” Berry said. “The pilots are trying to do some stuff out at

the airport, but I think this could be fun for the whole

community.”