Dueling Air Shows

July 4, 2007

This weekend the National Cherry Festival will hold its annual Festival Air Show. This is a “non-Blue Angels” year so attendance to the free air show is a lot lighter than when the popular Navy jets are a part of the show. Add to that, the Cherry Festival will be doing “battle” with another air show 45 miles away: The Camp Grayling Rock & Roll Airshow.
Both air shows take place Saturday, July 7 and Sunday, July 8 with the Grayling show stating at noon and the Cherry Festival show at 1 p.m. The organizers of the new festival in Grayling don’t see the two in competition, but possibly complementing each other.
“The Camp Grayling Rock & Roll Airshow will be like no other airshow in the country,” said Mike Spielmaker of Special Forces Ventures and organizer of the weekend. “Bringing the rock & roll dynamic with major bands such as Slowride (formally Foghat), Blackfoot and Molly Hatchet along with several Michigan bands will make this the first ever airshow to feature music. I also think that with both airshows having two days that gives people an opportunity to visit both.”
TOP ACTS
Spielmaker, a former Green Beret who served during the Reagan administration, likens the air show scene to that of NASCAR.
“People love these air shows and will travel from all over the country to come out for them,” said Spielmaker. “We could see 75,000 to 100,000 people over the weekend. Not only do we have top music acts, we have some of the top air performers, including the famed Golden Knights parachute team as well as the stunt flying and aerobatics of Jacquie “B” Warda and Bill Stein. Plus we have Allen “Attila” Smith, who performs flying feats in a L-39 Soviet Fighter Jet.”
But they don’t have the Blue Angels, who will be at the Thunder Over Michigan Airshow at Willow Run Airbase in Mt. Clemens, rotating every other year with the Cherry Festival. Spielmaker doesn’t see that as an issue.
“The Blue Angels are great but they make appearances in Michigan three times a year,” said Spielmaker. “We are offering a lot of things that you don’t see at a typical airshow and we will have a lot of interactive offerings that are not at other airshows.”
Spielmaker also believes the timing and location are right for an event of this type.
“We picked Grayling because it has a long military history. Plus, the area needs an economic boost,” said Spielmaker, who developed the idea with his partners Terry and Sheri DeBold. “ This side of the state is struggling to get tourists so we expect this airshow to be a real shot in the arm.”

NATION’S LARGEST
Camp Grayling is the largest United States military installation east of the Mississippi River and is the nation’s largest National Guard training site. It contributes about $25 million annually to the Grayling economy and possibly more.
“We just came off three weeks of 3,000 troops from Ohio and our community felt that impact,” said Tim Zigila, executive director of the Grayling Chamber of Commerce. “Since 9/11 troops coming here to train have dwindled (because of the Iraq war), so we are thankful that Camp Grayling is willing to take on events to attract visitors.”
Zigila and others in Grayling are cautiously optimistic about the Grayling Rock and Roll Airshow and hope that the promoter’s estimates of the crowds are accurate. Calls to Grayling area hotels and campgrounds suggest that most are sold out for the weekend.
In addition to the airshow activities, numerous vendors will offer interactive events for attendees, including a Motorcyle Run on July 7. In addition to shows featuring the Golden Knights Parachute Team and stunt flyers, there will be live-fire sniper demonstrations and a display of a variety of aircraft, including Apache attack helicopters. An Army marksmanship truck will be on site, along with a “Virtual Army Experience, National Guard NASCAR racer, and a wind tunnel that simulates what it’s like to sky dive.
Family passes are $90 per day, for two adults and two youths, ages 11-17. For info, check out www.campgraylingairshow.com.

Concerts planned for the Grayling Rock & Roll Airshow:

SATURDAY
3 p.m. Tequila Town Band
3:30 p.m. 60 Second Crush
4 p.m. Raymond Harris And Special guest Miss Michigan
4:45 p.m. Copper Ridge
5:30 p.m. Badd Habits
6:00 p.m. Dirt Road Logic
7 p.m. Headliner Blackfoot

SUNDAY
2 p.m. Alexander Kent Blues Band
2:30 p.m. Mr. Hyde
3 p.m. Brigitte London and The Spirit of the Outlaws
3:30 p.m. Whitey Morgan
4 p.m. South Normal
4:30 p.m. Slow Ride, featuring original Foghat band member Tony Stevens.
5:45 p.m. Headliner Molly Hatchet