Menu
AFAD to honor military Saturday
The 45th Annual Air Force Appreciation Day kicks off this weekend with a free barbecue, the state's largest parade, free entertainment and activities for both young and old.
The event, organized by the Chamber's Air Force Appreciation Day Committee, is annually the largest event held in Elmore County, drawing crowds usually estimated to be in the 10,000-person range.
For 45 years the parade and activities that fill Carl Miller Park have been designed to honor the men and women who serve at the airbase and in other military forces of the United States.
This year's theme is "Yellow Ribbons, Tying America Together."
Activities actually begin Friday, with a memorial service on base beginning at 3 p.m. at Holt Park (the former Heritage Park). The event is open to selected invitees or anyone who has access to the base. The retreat and 9/11 rememberance ceremony will feature speechs by wing commander Charles Shugg and Mayor Joe B. McNeal.
Friday evening pre-AFAD activities move into town with the traditional "corn shucking" beginning at 6 p.m. The public is invited to show up at Carl Miller Park and help shuck the corn for Saturday's free barbecue meal. It typically takes less than 5 minutes for all 5,000 ears to corn to be shucked.
At the same time, the commander's social begins in the park, in which leaders of the wing meet with community leaders and AFAD boosters.
At 6:30 p.m. Friday the annual Fun Run/Walk begins (and eventually ends) at Carl Miller Park.
But the big party is Saturday.
At 8:30 a.m. the VIP breakfast will be held at the American Legion Hall. The event is by invitation only and features honored guests from the 366th Wing and AFAD boosters.
Jovial Jerries also will offer a burrito breakfast from 8-10:30 a.m. for all veterans and military personnel and their families, as well as all parade participants.
Line-up for the parade begins at 9:30 a.m. in the streets south of Paul's Market. A list of parade entries and their line-up locations can be found on Page A-3 of today's edition of the Mountain Home News.
The parade kicks off at 10:30 a.m. and will proceed from Paul's Market down Second East Street to E. Fifth North, over to N. Third East Street, back down to American Legion Boulevard and up to Carl Miller Park. At that point, those parade entries that will compete for the People's Choice Award will turn left and park beside the park on N. 10th East St. The remaining entries will proceed to 14th East Street before dispersing.
All the downtown streets will be blocked off during the parade and members of the city police bike patrol will provide crowd control, trying to keep the parade viewers from crowding into the street. Police ask that no cars be parked on any of the streets of the parade route that morning, and those throwing candy from their floats are asked to please get the candy all the way to the sidewalk, to prevent children from running into the street in front of the vehicles in the parade.
The parade typically involves over 100 float and vehicle entries and more than 2,000 participants. It usually takes about two hours.
The parade will be led by Grand Marshal Art Isaac and the 25th Army National Guard Band.
One of the highlights of the parade will be an appearance, sponsored by Great Western, of Micheal Waltrip's #99 NASCAR Bush Series car.
Also featured will be Mountain Home's Scottish American Society bagpipe band.
As soon as the parade is over activities move to Carl Miller Park where 135 booths will be set up selling food or crafts, or providing information about local groups and organizations.
A free beef barbecue is offered by the Chamber at the cook shack area at the back of the park, and an estimated 5,000 people are expected to be served.
Also throughout the day drawings will be held for raffle ticket items. Raffle tickets are $1 each or six for $5.
This year, the AFAD Committee is raffling a 50cc Zuma Scooter by Yamaha, two $500 cash prizes, a natural gas barbecue grill, camping equipment, a digital camera and his and her bikes.
Tickets are available in advance at LaMode Cleaners, the Hair Hut, Mountain Home News, Desert Mountain Motor Sports and the Chamber of Commerce office. Tickets also are sold in the park the day of the event.
Raffle and booster donations provide the basic funding for the day-long party.
Entertainment also will be offered throughout the afternoon in the park.
The USAF band Mobility, The United States Band of the Golden West's popular music group, will be the featured entertainment attraction during the day in the park.
Mobility is a self-contained entertainment package "fronted by three talented vocalists and backed by four of the hottest contemporary instrumentalists in the USAF band career field. Mobility lights up the stage with dynamic musical performances of pop, rock, country and jazz," their press release says. "These natural-born professionals have the ability to reach out and draw in the audience, making them feel as if they're part of the performance."
The band will play its sets throughout the afternoon at the main stage near the F-111 at the front of the park.
In addition, the Optimist Cheerleaders will perform at 2 p.m. at the main stage, during one of the band's breaks.
Other entertainment will be provided at the back end of the park, near the fireplace.
The Kuk Sol Won martial arts group will perform throughout the afternoon.
Between 1-2 p.m. the trash can group "Rhythm Dogs" will perform.
The Mountain Home Cloggers are scheduled to perform there at 2:30 p.m.
All times are approximate.
Events in the park usually wind down about 5 p.m.