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Wednesday, July 7, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
‘Planes, pancakes, flying chickens’ — event celebrates America
By Ceili Cornelius
Correspondent
Sisters Eagle Airport
treated Sisters residents to
a full show of airplanes and
vintage and hot-rod cars
at the annual Sisters Eagle
Airport Fly-In event on the
Fourth of July. A typical dry,
hot summer day on the tar-
mac at Sisters Eagle Airport
had several hundred patrons
out and about to see the air
show and drag racing to cele-
brate America9s birthday. The
familiar sound of helicopters
and other aircraft echoed
down the runway all morning
in Sisters Country.
The event began with a
community pancake break-
fast and the arrival of aircraft,
then the 5K run/walk featur-
ing a hot rod and a plane
signal to send off the run-
ners (see related story, page
4). Throughout the day, cars
were on display across the
tarmac, mostly old-school
cars, with some modern
sports cars and other rigs in
the mix. The Sisters Camp-
Sherman Fire Department
was also there with an EMS
station, handing out fire hats
and stickers to kids, staffed
by the Sisters Fire Corps and
EMS personnel. Later in the
morning, pilots began the
famous <chicken drop,= in
which patrons bet on where
the rubber chicken will land
on the runway when it9s
dropped from a plane.
The day at the airport
traditionally ends with drag
races down the runway.
Brittany Meudt, sales ana-
lyst at Laird Superfood, was
there with her family show-
ing off one of her grandpa9s
signature old-fashioned cars.
Her grandpa, Mick Hunter,
was an avid car collector
and his red 1955 Chevrolet
210 Del Ray, that he called
<Ralph,= was present at this
year9s event.
<We wanted to come out
and honor Grandpa with this
car, and we hadn9t shown it
off since the [2019] Glory
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Daze Car Show and we
thought it would be a good
idea to come out with it for a
local event,= said Meudt.
Meudt9s 16-month-old
son, Beau, was also in atten-
dance 4 his first car show
honoring his great-grandpa.
Hunter bought the car in
1965 when he was 19 years
old, and moved to Sisters
with the Chevy in 2005.
Hunter passed away in 2019.
Meudt and <Grandpa Mike=
were very close through her
youth.
<It means a lot to come
out and honor him at this
local event,= she said.
Leading Edge Aviation
Inc, based in Bend, was also
a lead in the event, putting on
what they call <hop rides= in
tour helicopters throughout
the day. Leading Edge is a
flight academy that trains
recreational and commercial
pilots.
Their representative at the
event, Kate Ayres, said <We
are out here doing tours in
the Robison R-44 helicopters
touring over the mountains.
That is primarily the training
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541-549-8198
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aircraft for pilots, and we get
these pilots trained and a lot
of them end up becoming
EMS helicopter and plane
pilots,= she said.
Executive Vice President
of Leading Edge Jack Walker
is the lead instructor for over
200 students.
<We work with COCC
(Central Oregon Community
College) and veterans for
flight training, and it is really
good practice in the field
rather than just working with
professional training agen-
cies,= he said.
As the day continued,
there were drag races, flights
landing and taking off, and
people out mingling and
catching up with old friends
as the state of Oregon begins
to open up again.
<It is so nice to see every-
one9s smiling faces,= said
Sisters resident Heather
Johnson.
Owner and Founder of
Fika Sisters Coffeehouse
Reneé Reitmeier said, <It
was so fun to enjoy a com-
munity festival! And this
is one of Sisters9 classics
PHOTO BY JERRY BALDOCK
Leading Edge Aviation offered “hop rides” throughout the day on July 4 at
Sisters Eagle Airport.
4 planes, pancakes, and fly-
ing chickens.=
Cathy Stadeli, owner of
C&C Nursery, said, <We
loved seeing everyone out
enjoying themselves, and
seeing their smiling faces
again. Nothing like fast cars
and the smell of burning
rubber to let you know sum-
mer is here! It9s a wonderful
way to celebrate America9s
birthday.=
The Sisters Eagle
Airport9s Fly-In event is an
annual Sisters tradition that
will carry on throughout the
years, but this year was spe-
cial because it is one of the
first events of the summer
for citizens to gather together
with a sense of normalcy.
Join us for...
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