Andrews – Jack Lewis was a young boy growing up in Valleytown when he sat on the then grass airline runway at Western Regional Airport every Sunday.
“I’d sit there all day hoping to see one of them land,” he said at the airport’s 75th birthday party Saturday. “I’d see plenty flying over but it was rare when I got to see one land.”
Lewis got his pilot’s license at age 15 and had been flying ever since. He proudly added, “My company is worth $40 million, and that would not have been possible without this airport.”
Lewis’ gratitude toward the airport was shared among the 300 or so other guests who stopped by to help celebrate the airport’s 75 years of service. Jerry Stadtmiller and his wife, Lisa Turner, both make their livelihood at the airport. Stadtmiller restores antique planes from the hangar he owns on the airport property.
Gayland Trull, the airport’s managing fixed base operator, pushed Stadtmiller to explain just how special his business is. Stadtmiller humbly obliged, saying, “When the airplanes get dropped off here, they look like something on the way to the dump. And when they leave, they are better than factory new.”
Youth love flight
Not every guest was so well acquainted with the airport or even aviation. Billie Caldwell brought her two boys out to see the planes up close. Her 9-year-old – Trenton Rudgers, a serious child with an impressive vocabulary – said he came out for two reasons.
“My grandpa is a pilot, but I mainly like planes because they are in all the action movies,” said Rudgers, who intends to make a career out of movies. “I’m going to make a movie one day. It will take place in Tokyo, my favorite city, and all the planes will fly from a made-up place called Monarch.”
Clay Logan brought grandson Brooks Logan as a birthday present. “I like seeing the old planes better than the new planes,” Brooks said.
When asked why, he added, “I like the propellers. Those are the ones they flew in World War II. They would just attach guns to the planes and go around and shoot at each other.”
Like Rudgers, the younger Logan has big plans for his future. “I want to be a NASCAR driver,” he said.
The event was catered by Granieri’s food truck. Frank Colontonio and Kelli Norris were happy to be at the airport serving food, with Colontonio saying aviation folk gravitated to the barbecue pork sandwich. Later in the afternoon, Dr. Dan Eichenbaum, chairman of the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners, gave a short speech.
A barbershop quartet called EKG entertained partygoers. When asked what “EKG” stood for, a member of the group said, “You know, the heart monitor,” which helped make sense of their bright red shirts. The piercing harmonies echoed through the cavernous hangar as children ran among the planes, sometimes climbing up into the cockpits for an imaginary adventure.
Among the thrill seekers were John Snow (3), and his church friend, Nathanael Posey (4). The two little ones shared a cockpit and flew to worlds unseen by their doting fathers who stood proudly nearby.
Snow’s father said, “We came to the party for the boys to enjoy the planes.” However, Nathanael’s dad, Wil Posey, interrupted with a laugh, saying, “Well, we came mostly for me.”
Teens learning to fly
The airport also serves as a licensing class and has 14 students under Trull’s leadership. Bre Hale is one of six girls in the class. She owns a white and green plane called “Grasshopper,” named after her favorite Bible scripture in Isaiah, which she interprets to mean, “No matter where I go under His big sky, I am in his care and protection.”
Eleven-year-old, Faithlynn Barret may follow in Hale’s footsteps to become a pilot. She was drawn to a red, shiny plane, saying, “That’s my favorite.” As she hopped inside with her little sister she said, “I can’t wait to fly in an airplane one day. I want to see what the mountains look like from overhead.”
She admitted she might be scared flying up in one of the small planes on display for the festivities, but courageously added, “I’ll do it! I want to take pictures.”
Barret’s excitement around airplanes runs in the family. Her favorite uncle flies in the U.S. Air Force.
A large donation box was set up behind a banner reading “Support Aviation Career Education,” with people lining up to drop their dollars in the box. David Hourdequin, who oversees the organization said that the money collected goes toward scholarships for students attending Tri-County Early College High School’s Intro to Aviation class. He admits piloting is expensive.
“Some of these students have financial challenges. It costs $140 an hour for flight instruction, and they can’t earn that on a paper route,” he said.
Lisa Turner joined Hourdequin at the table selling her book, Dream Take Flight, saying all the proceeds will go toward the scholarships.
Fence and friendliness
Interested guests wandered from the music inside the hangar to the dozens of planes on display under an accommodating North Carolina blue sky. The only controversy at the happy event had to do with the new fence being built to surround the airport.
County commissioners want the fence to “keep out terrorists,” according to Stadtmiller, who added, “It takes away from the friendliness.” He said one of the best features of the airport “is how welcoming it is.”
Stadtmiller isn’t alone in his opposition. Lewis, with less diplomacy, said with a laugh, “The gate sucks.” Still, the gate did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the region’s future aviators.
“I love airplanes,” Emma Snyder (7) gushed while chasing her sister into a cockpit.
Pat and Mike Lee from Murphy watched the children play and peeked into the planes on display. Lee has loved airplanes since she was a small child and was excited to visit the airport.
“My uncle took me up when I was 6 or 7,” he said. “I’ll never forget it. He flew over our neighborhood, and I could see our house.”