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AFAD 2014
A pair of A-10 Thunderbolts from the Idaho Air National Guard made their presence known as they roared over Mountain Home early Saturday as the community began a yearly tradition that paid tribute to the nation's military.
Cooler morning temperatures and sunny skies drew larger crowds during the 54th Annual Air Force Appreciation Day celebration.
"It's exciting to be a part of this community and being a part of AFAD," said Col. David Iverson, commander of the 366th Fighter Wing at Mountain Home Air Force Base.
From the colonel's perspective, the event is just one way of seeing firsthand how the base remains heavily integrated into the Mountain Home community.
"Each year, it seems to be getting bigger and bigger," added Col. (Dr.) Sarady Tan, who attended his third AFAD on Saturday along with his wife and family.
In addition to forging a "cohesive relationship" between the Air Force base and the Mountain Home community, AFAD is a way to showcase the exceptional airmen stationed here, Tan said.
At the same time, it also helps younger airmen understand and appreciate the importance of forging positive relationships between the bases where they serve and the communities that support these installations, the colonel added.
This year's festivities kicked off Friday evening during a corn shucking event attended by local civic members and representatives from the nearby Air Force base. Among them were Lt. Col. Ian Chambers. The commander of the 426th Air Control Squadron, he took time to show his two-year-old daughter, Josephine, how to peel the husks away from ears of corn.
Nearby, Lt. Col. Dominic Chiapusio helped his daughter, Bella, as his family raced to finish clearing the corn piled up on their corner of the table. It was the second year that the colonel's daughter had participated in the corn spectacle.
"She's an old pro at this," said Chiapusio, who commands the 428th Fighter Squadron at the nearby Air Force base.
In addition to preparing the corn for Saturday's barbecue lunch, the corn husking promotes a bit of friendly competition between military and civic participants with each group jockeying to finish first. In some instances, groups would toss husks at one another in hopes of slowing down the competition.
It took just minutes for the dozens of participants to husk the thousands of ears of corn with volunteers piling them into a holding barrel. With the evening's chores complete, running enthusiasts gathered on North 10th East Street to begin another tradition during this year's Air Force Appreciation Day fun run and walk races.
Some construction around Legacy Park prompted race officials to make some minor changes to this year's five-mile route, but it didn't change the pace of the run itself, said Brad Seymour, one of this year's race organizers.
Seymour credited a great team of volunteers that help organize the race each year. Many of them have been directly involved with the run for several years, he said.
This year marked the changing of the guard, in a manner of speaking, regarding the yearly fun run. After more than 20 years, Seymour and long-time race veteran Larry Ashcraft announced they were stepping down from organizing the race with representatives from the Treasure Valley YMCA set to continue the pre-AFAD tradition.
John Watkins made the annual trek from his home in Hammett to signal the start of this year's fun run event. Dressed in authentic 1880s cowboy attire as he stood at the starting line, he fired a shot from a shotgun to signal the beginning of both the five-mile run and three-mile walk.
A retired Air Force weapons mechanic and bomb loader, Watkins took over the duty of starting each race from Carl Boyer, who started the tradition 21 years ago. He's done it ever since.
At first, it appeared that the first two runners to cross the finish line had completed the five-kilometer trek in just under 30 minutes. However, some confusion on the route led both men on the wrong path, cutting their route by roughly 3/4 of a mile, which put them out of contention for first place.
Instead, it was Jason Jetly that led the pack with an official time of 35 minutes, 4 seconds. Laurel McMahan continued her winning ways as the top women's runner. She crossed the finish line at 37:04 to win her six consecutive AFAD title.
Gundars Kaupins of Boise was the fastest man to walk the three-kilometer course with a final time of 29:47. In 2013, he was not only fastest walker but also crossed the finish line before the first runners arrived.
Meanwhile, Karen Tucker arrived at the finish line five minutes later to lead the women's walkers.
Air Force Appreciation Day festivities moved into full gear early Saturday as spectators started to line the parade route. Early risers were already setting their chairs along the streets by 7:45 a.m. on Saturday, said Gwen Towers from the Mountain Home Citizens on Patrol team.
"For a little town, this is such a big event," said Towers, who celebrated 14 years being a part of the community's military celebration.
The early birds included people like Priscilla McCutcheon, whose family and friends laid claim to a section of sidewalk next to Paul's Market around 8:15 that morning.
"We got here early so we could have a good spot and be the first in line," McCutcheon said.
A block away, Chris Trombly and his family had already staked out a prime location along North 2nd East Street. The past two years, the family had sat on the west side of street to watch the parade. This year, they decided to arrive early to set in the shade on the east side.
"You definitely won't see much if you're sitting in the sun," Trombly said.
"These are amazing seats," added his wife, Samantha, as their children Kaylen and Landon, waited for the parade to start.
Saturday's processions of vehicles and floats ran roughly the same length as previous years with a number of entries added to the roster that morning, according to parade organizer Sue Gross. Originally expecting 113 entries, the parade lineup had swelled to 136 entries.
"We had quite a few last-minute entries," Gross said.
The total entries were just a few shy of the 150 registered groups that took part in AFAD's 50th anniversary parade in 2010. However, it maintains a long-standing tradition as the state's largest parade.
Each of this year's parade participants had the chance to earn recognition by the judges in the reviewing stand as well as members of the local community. Ultimately, it was the Buccaneers of the 428th Fighter Squadron that swept the competition, earning three awards for best overall float and top military entry along with the people's choice award.
The squadron, which trains aircrews from the Republic of Singapore air force, put together a team of volunteers that spent the past 4 1/2 months building a scaled-down pirate ship from scratch. As the ship "sailed" along the route, members on board the float would periodically fire off a small cannon that caught some spectators off guard.
Other parade entries also came away with multiple honors this year. The Mountain Home Parks and Recreation cheerleaders won top honors in the youth category while finishing second overall in the people's choice competition. Meanwhile, the Red Hat ladies chapter the Call of the Red, also known as the Cinnamon Bears, won the open float category while rounding out the top three in the people's choice race.
As the last entry passed the judges' reviewing stand more than two hours after the parade began, thousands of appreciation day enthusiasts packed into Carl Miller Park to check out the myriad of food and entertainment. In some places, people were packed shoulder to shoulder as they enjoyed the festivities throughout the afternoon.
A free barbecue lunch remained the biggest draw as people waited in line for several minutes as civic and military leaders served the meals. Paolo Canlas was one of the many volunteers working in the cook shack on Saturday to ensure the barbecued beef sandwiches were ready for the estimated 5,000 people that enjoy the meals.
It's a long day for these cooks, Canlas said. Their day begins at 8 a.m. with food preparation following about two hours later.
Canlas, part of a handpicked team of volunteers from the 428th Fighter Squadron, estimated that his day at the park would wrap up sometime after 6 p.m. But despite all the hard work, he had no regrets, saying it was important to get out in the community and provide a helping hand.
Hundreds of people gathered along the south side of the park to enjoy a musical performance from the Air Force Band of the Golden West. Based out of Travis Air Force Base, Calif., the ensemble played a number of traditional rock tunes along with more recent musical numbers.
During their show, they paused to pay tribute to the veterans gathered in the audience as well as the countless others living in communities across the United States.
Others at the park spent the afternoon checking out the multitude of vendors. Many sold food and beverages while others carried trinkets and other treasures.
But the one that seemed to gain the most attention required participants to walk a tightrope suspended about two feet above a series of cushioned mats. That protective measure came in handy quite readily as individuals tried, in vain, to successfully span the short distance.
Among these adventurous souls was Taygen Carrier, who managed to reach the halfway point before she lost her balance and fell.
"It's really hard. It's so wobbly and so hard to walk on it," Carrier said.