Summer ends with a bang
Published 3:04 pm Tuesday, September 6, 2016
By the time the first fireworks shot off from the Farmville Regional Airport on Saturday night, there were several thousand people on hand to go “ooh” and “aah.”
The fireworks capped off the first of what is hoped to be an annual End of Summer/Labor Day Weekend event at the airport, put together by the town of Farmville, with Perry Carrington leading the way. Carrington, who organizes the town’s annual Fourth of July celebration, was a little nervous about how many people would show up, especially because of possibly windy, even stormy weather. Luckily, he had a tip things were going to be OK.
MARTIN L. CAHN | HERALD
Lots of families came to Saturday’s End of Summer event at the airport and took advantage of two bounce houses to keep their kids entertained. Several thousand people had shown up by the time fireworks began at 8:30 p.m.
MARTIN L. CAHN | HERALD
ShugaSIZED, a Farmville-based band, takes the stage at the beginning of Saturday night’s event with their bluesy-rock versions of familiar classics.
“One of my friends said the wind would die down by 4 p.m., and at 4 p.m., sure enough, it did,” Carrington said.
At pretty much 5 p.m. sharp, Carrington introduced the first of the two musical acts for the evening: ShugaSIZED, a Farmville-based band that got the initially small crowd going with their bluesy-rock takes on familiar classics. Kids enjoyed not one, but two bounce houses, a rock wall and even a gyroscope when they weren’t running around playing with each other or their parents.
The Farmville Downtown Partnership was on hand, as were the Piedmont Community Supporters and Charlotte County Lions Club, along with a number of commercial vendors.
The Friends of the Farmville Airport — which will host its own “Flying Fish” seafood festival Saturday at Fuqua School — brought out an aluminum plane put together by the school’s aviation program.
A second round of music featured Richmond-based Suit & Tie, which got the growing audience grooving to a mix of classic and modern R&B with a jazzy tint.
Everything appeared to go smoothly, with a large number of Farmville Police Department officers on hand, joined by members of the Virginia State Police and the Farmville Fire Department.
Members of Farmville Boy Scouts Troop 5616 handled parking duties.
Finally, a little after 8:30 p.m., it was time. The audience loudly counted down from 10, cueing the 20-minute fireworks show to start.
Afterward, Suit & Tie returned to the stage to sing a few more numbers as folks headed back to their cars to drive home.
