Tampa Bay AirFest draws large crowds, honors local heroes
TAMPA, Fla. - It was another beautiful day for Tampa Bay AirFest on Saturday at MacDill Air Force Base. Nearly 100,000 people took advantage of the weather and attended the event’s second day.
Close to 70,000 people attended AirFest Friday.
"We actually got up at 5 a.m. and were in line out front around 6:30," Stephen Rummey said.
Stephen and his wife, Alexis Rummey, have been coming to airshows since they could walk.
"I love just seeing how they open up the gates for all of the civilians here. My family is actually Navy, so my aunt used to fly the F18s, so it’s just cool to have those family memories even beyond just coming out here as a general civilian," Stephen Rummey said.
It’s a good thing they arrived early because AirFest reached capacity at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
READ: Tampa Bay AirFest kicks off weekend of stunts at MacDill Air Force Base
"When they get in all the formations, I like that," Eli Kennedy said.
Eli Kennedy and his brother also arrived bright and early with their family to snag a front row seat to the show in the sky.
"It’s for the Tampa community and largely for those kids," Colonel Ed Szczepanik, Deputy Commander of MacDill Air Force Base, said. "All of us that are serving now are grateful to do it. The thing that we don’t know for sure is who is going to serve next and so, hosting an airshow is a great way to bring kids in and maybe inspire that next generation and so, looking out yesterday at those 70,000 people, 70,000 of our best friends coming out, I saw two things… I saw kids smiling because they were amazed and inspired to do all kinds of things, hopefully join the Air Force… and I saw Americans being proud to be us, being proud to be patriots and that’s a really special thing," he said.
The event honored four World War II veterans on Saturday, including 99-year-old O’Neil Ducharme, who served in the Marines for 39 years. Ducharme served in World War II, the Korean War and in Vietnam.
"After 99 years and being honored here today, it’s just out of this world," Ducharme said. "It's almost like a dream come true. It's probably going to be the second best day of my life, and the first one was coming home on a flight from Washington to see the so-called museum in our honor," he said.
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Trooper Toni Schuck was also honored as the Hometown Hero on Saturday and got to ride with the Thunderbirds on Thursday.
"There’s not a part of this that I’ll forget," Trooper Schuck said. "The most important part was my entire family was here for that flight. My parents, my son, both of my sons were here, and my husband. My husband was Air Force. My son was Air Force. My dad was in the Army, and so, for them to be on that flight line when I took off was amazing," she said.
Trooper Schuck put her vehicle in the path of a drunk driver in 2022 who was headed towards the Skyway Bridge during the Skyway 10K.
"From the day of the crash till today, I've had a lot of, recognition and accolades, and I’m very appreciative of every single one of them, but this was the highlight definitely," Trooper Schuck said.
Due to $300 million-worth of projects starting this summer at the base, AirFest won’t happen again for another three to four years, Szczepanik said. Construction will expand the hangars to house new KC-46 Pegasus tanker aircrafts, the newest, most technologically advanced tanker.