Holleyfest 2003 Pictorial

5th Annual Holleyfest
fly-in / camp-out
September 12-14, 2003
For text version, click here.

“I have worked with 20 air show and fly-in events over the years,” said Ron Edwards, Coordinator of Holleyfest 2003. “And I must say that this experience has topped them all.” Edwards addressed a core group of volunteers, assembled for a debriefing session in the hangar of Jim & JoAnn Collom at Holley Mountain Airpark near Clinton, Arkansas, late in the afternoon of Sunday, September 14.

Above: Pre-event grounds set-up was ongoing for months. Left to right: Set-up volunteers included Eric Archer, Ken Sowers, Ron Edwards and Billy Linn.

Originally calendared for September 12 & 13, the 5th Annual Holleyfest fly-in/camp-out was geared to go on schedule. Months of planning, involving hundreds of hours of volunteer time and thousands of cash and in-kind dollars, had produced an agenda replete with aviation education experts, FAA authorities, vendors, exhibitors, special ceremonies and entertaining games.

At right: Airpark publicist Christine Weiss, her daughter Shawna, and Aircraft Parking Coordinator Ken Sowers in the Colloms' hangar "before."

	The Colloms' personal hangar and the surrounding grounds had been transformed from an airplane garage and private backyard into a pleasantly appointed banquet room (at left) and event activities area.
At right: Vendors and exhibitors included the Van Buren County Rescue Squad. Below, left to right: (name?), JoAnn Collom, and Sandy Ramirez, in front of the (name?) Volunteer Fire Department booth.


	Above: Only the most experienced pilots chose to brave the elements, but the exhibitors (in the background) did their best to ignore the heavy skies.

And by mid-afternoon on Friday, things were set and ready to go.

At right: Pilot Registration & General Information tent (on right), opened the gateway to the Flight Line activities area.

And then the rains came....

At left: One of the few planes to fly-in on Saturday, dodging raindrops all the way. (Photo digitally amplified.)

But so did the people...!!!

Below: Considering the inclement weather, a goodly crowd gathered for Holleyfest 2003 opening ceremonies and lunch.

By noontime Saturday, as if on cue, the sun broke through in time for Ron Edwards to introduce Boy Scout Troop 29 of Christ the King Catholic Church from Little Rock, and their stunning Presentation of the Colors.

At left: Ron Edwards, Coordinator of Holleyfest 2003, welcomed the crowd to the Colloms' hangar and introduced the Boy Scouts.

Below: Scout Troop parades The Colors down the Homestead Place taxiway in front of the Colloms' hangar at Holley Mountain Airpark.

A powerful singing of our national anthem and recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, was led by Curt Collins -- a professional gospel singer!!! (pictured in background, above, click to visit his website)

Greg Smith led the Invocation (pictured below).

All of which set the stage for a scrumptious "all you can eat" luncheon (pictured below) of smokehouse-style B-B-Q Ribs & Chicken, 'tater salad, baked beans, and coleslaw... which was enjoyed by the volunteers, the presenters, the pilots, their families and some of their pets (pictured at left).

After lunch on Saturday, Airpark developers Jim & JoAnn Collom (pictured at right), officially welcomed all visitors on behalf of the Holley Mountain Airpark Property Owners Association and introduced former head of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Jim Burnett (pictured below).
	Burnett in turn, brought keynote speaker Mitch Llewellyn, aviation attorney and aircraft accident investigator (pictured below), to the podium.

Llewellyn's video presentation explored the too often unrecognized dangers of aerodynamic "flutter" (vibration) on aircraft and the sometimes tragic consequences of letting indicators of this and other structural anomalies or breakdowns go unchecked.
	At left: With their goal set on earning aviation-related merit badges, the Scouts took instruction about aviation particulars from (name of pilot?) and -- like other attendees on Saturday -- dodged the raindrops.

At Left: Mike Ramirez of the Missouri Pilots Association grabbed a minute to relax Saturday afternoon, before heading off to conduct formal ceremonies in tribute to eight of our nation's Medal of Honor Recipients at the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Convention.

"Being in charge of security, I was there all week long from 7:30 a.m. till 10:00 p.m. most nights," Ramirez said subsequent to the ceremonies, held September 14-19, 2003, at the Radisson Hotel in Branson, Missouri. "We had 74 Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients. It was really a huge honor to meet them all. They are all such down to earth, humble, 'just doing my job' kind of guys. Did you know that if they were in the room with the President of the US he'd be obligated to give up his seat to them? That's what a high honor it is. I got a book about them and got most of their signatures. Really neat."

Behind the Holleyfest scenes, event organizers had taken the situation in hand. Mother Nature was forecast to bring fair skies the next morning, and moves were afoot to carry as many rained-out activities as possible over to Sunday. Taking quick action to get the word out, the day dawned with the promise of sunshine...

And then the planes came!!!

Followed by the presenters...

Above: (?Joseph T. Calamita, Facility Support Specialist, and Jim Lafayette, Operations Supervisor?) of JBR Flight Service of Jonesboro , looked at "pilot attitude" as a causative factor in the chain of predictable events which too often lead to critical errors in judgment and consequential tragedy.

At right: Steven Buckner presented the FAA Wings Safety Program.

Ron Ford, Air-Evac Lifeteam Membership Coordinator (pictured at right), explained the vital role of medical emergency air-lift flight services in rural communities throughout the Ozarks.

As part of the educational demonstration, one of Air-Evac's helicopters (pictured below) touched down at Holleyfest.

	Sunday afternoon, after a second delicious helping of B-B-Q lunch, it was time for the fun and games to begin!
At right: Jim Collom with a small group of the children who played the Popsicle Stick Drop game.

At left: Winners of the Popsicle Stick Drop got to claim prizes from an assortment of toy squirt guns, wind chimes, and model helicopters.


For the rest of the afternoon, little girls played with their puppies and toys...

	Folks mixed and mingled...
	Above: Keith Parish, EMT, and Alan Prestridge, both are members of the VBC Rescue Squad.

Tots got taken for "exciting" rides...

Will Dawson (below), owner of Dawson Aircraft, and Timothy Posey (at right), Dawson's Parts & Salvage Manager, carried precious cargo in between making their rounds, tending volunteer duties and assisting with aircraft parking throughout the weekend.

Children did back-flips...

Ending the day, Award Trophies were presented for Youngest Pilot, Oldest Pilot, Oldest Plane, Furthest Distance Traveled, and Most Unique Aircraft, which went to ultralight pilot, John Newman.

“He deserved an award for his landing,” Collom remarked, agreeing with others that the conditions had been quite a challenge for the pilot and his aircraft, and he'd handled the circumstances well.

Below left: Jim Collom (on left), accompanied by Linda and Walt Petersen (at right) present the plaque for the "Youngest Pilot attending Holleyfest 2003." Awards were also given for Oldest Pilot, Oldest Plane, Furthest Distance Traveled, and Most Unique aircraft. (Pilot names?)

Above: The "cherry picker" on the Holley Mountain VFD Snorkel Truck, as with the annual Holleyfest event itself, seemed to tower above the clouds.

“Never before in my life have I seen such a powerful, enthusiastic and energetic group of people come together with such wholehearted cooperation,” Edwards concluded Sunday's debriefing of the Holleyfest event, acknowledging the numerous volunteers that made the three-day aviators' convention possible. "It was amazing," he said, grinning warmly. "Thanks."