FALL RIVER: For the past 19 years, a Fall River resident has been at the helm of the only homeless air show.
Colin Stephenson has been the producer of Air Show Atlantic, set to take place Aug. 27-28 in Debert, since 2003, the year he and his family moved to Fall River Village.
Growing up in Eastern Passage, near the base at CFB Shearwater, it was easy to fall in love with the air show. Stephenson’s dad served at the base, and he grew up on it and the old military shows are his childhood. His wife also taught at Ash Lee Jefferson Elementary School.
Stephenson said he’s incredibly lucky and lives gratefully because of it.
“You bring so many things to different people,” said Stephenson, on an overcast day outside the Fall River Tim Hortons. “It’s entertainment to families. It’s honoring our veterans. It’s celebrating our military, their teamwork, their professionalism, their equipment.
“There are so many aspects that are really fun for us, and I get to do it as a career. I’m really, really fortunate and I, I live that way because of it.”
He said it’s easy to get goose bumps when you know the effect you’re having on a community that you’re coming to or pushing a veteran in a wheelchair into the VIP tent.
“It’s a pretty nice thing to be able to be involved in,” he said.
Stephenson said he keeps his fellow volunteer committee over the past two years is they would plan to have a show, and then waited to see if they could or not.
“And then when we couldn’t, we would shut it all down,” he said.
Air Show Atlantic tickets are on sale now through their website, http://www.airshowatlantic.ca/index.asp. There will be displays of vintage World War One and World War Two airplanes to aerobatics to the F-18 Hornet.
Also happening will be a jet truck that actually runs down the runway at 270 miles an hour, and it is going to race against an airplane.
The Skyhawk parachute team, which is really emblematic of teamwork in the military, will also be on hand and perform.
Stephenson said an air show of this magnitude isn’t planned overnight. It takes time, time they usually don’t have as one airshow happens they’re already thinking of the next one.
“The planning of an air show takes like 18 months, and so we’re always working on the next two shows at a time,” he said. “We’re engaged with our core group of volunteers, of which there are like 30 or so. We certainly stayed in touch with those folks and many of them were more than happy to come back whenever we thought it’s going to happen.
“Now this time it’s actually going to happen. Everybody’s really excited because we’re just a couple of weeks away.”
He said it will be a great day of entertainment for families. Kids under 12 are free.
“It’s a really affordable day,” said Stephenson. Kids are going to be able to enjoy things like bouncy castles and obstacle courses free of charge. There’s going to be lots of food trucks on site so they can spend six, seven hours there.
“We’ll have things like comfort stations that’ll make sure you stay hydrated, give you sunscreen, give you earplugs for the kids, lots of things like that. We’re very well prepared to entertain a family for a full day.
“This is an opportunity for people to enjoy all the aspects of the air show and really have a nice weekend.”