Area residents and visitors are invited to bring lawn chairs, blankets, pop-up tents, yard-games and coolers for tailgating while enjoying Skyfire festivities at the Salina Municipal Golf Course on Independence Day Monday.
The gates will open at 5:00 pm. General Admission is free with parking and tailgating on the east side of Markley Road. VIP Parking is in the municipal golf course parking lot and is $20 per car admission.
Food trucks, including Texas Red, Freddy’s Food Truck, Kona Shaved Ice and bounce houses. VIP guests will also have access to KC Style BBQ from a local chef, Kim’s Food Truck and an additional shaved ice vendor along with live music. Bounce-A-Roos will be on-site with bouncy fun from 6:00-9:00 pm at both general admission and VIP locations.
At 5:30 pm, spectators will get the opportunity to see their first sky feature during a flyover of three vintage planes. A 1943 Cessna Twin Engine UC-78 Bobcat used in WWII training flown by Earl Long, 1948 Cessna 195 flown by Ben Sorensen and a 1983 Cessna 182 flown by Richard Free. The flyover is provided by the Commemorative Air Force group, CAF Jayhawks.
This Cessna UC-78 was used by the United States Army Air Corps as an advanced multi-engine trainer during World War II. The Air Corps pilots were trained in three stages Primary, Basic and Advanced before they were sent to operational units to fly the combat aircraft. The pilots trained to fly multi-engine airplanes in aircraft such as this UC-78. The UC-78 could hold one instructor and up to four students during a flight.
The King Midas Band will be performing from 7:00 – 9:30 pm for VIP guests on the steps of the First Tee building on the east side of the Salina Municipal Clubhouse. General Admission attendees are welcomed to park in General Admission parking on designated area on the east side of Markley as a walk-in guest without paying to enjoy the King Midas Band.
The fireworks show will include a combination of a choreographed and a fancy shell varieties according to technician Jason Holland.
Holland said several parts will correspond with the music through color and sound. Use your imagination and look for choreography in show.” said Lonnie Morris, Salina AM Ambucs. “As an example we opened the show with an Olympic theme with 5 ringed shells replicating Olympic Rings. Thing this year to look out for include “American Soldier” by Toby Keith will there will be a 9 shell shot barrage. During the Superman theme comets will shoot across sky meaning superman flying.
Every 9/10ths of a second there will be a new shell going into the air and the last 60 seconds there will be 300 shells for the finale.
A couple other fun things to look out for: when you think it’s over, it’s not quite over. Look out for a surprise. As the smoke clears, the real true meaning of freedom and the 4th of July will shine through in the sky.
The price tag for this dynamic show in the July 4th sky is about $36,000. The Salina Breakfast Bandits AMBUCS is the driving force behind the show each year, securing the funding and making all of the arrangements. The City of Salina contributes $5,000.
The live music that correlates with the firework show is being broadcast on Meridian Media radio stations KSAL, Y.93.7, and FM 104.9, as well as a radio remote the day of the festivities. The 10:00 pm Fireworks Extravaganza Show begins with a message from the mayor and then the annual radio station kick off countdown.
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Photo by Arthur Chauvineau on Unsplash
