Libertyfest, Air Show join forces downtown

With music, art, fireworks and an air show rolled into one Fourth of July event on the riverfront, Libertyfest Air Show 2008 is preparing for its inaugural year.

Marla Mills, Old Town Cape executive director, said this year will bring two events the community loves together for the first time. The Cape Regional Air Festival is typically held at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport and an admission fee is charged. This year, festivalgoers will be entertained for free.

Bruce Loy, airport manager and coordinator of the air show for a decade, sees the downtown event as "an escape from what we normally do."

At the airport, it usually takes about 200 to 250 volunteers to operate the festival. "We're pretty used to the routine," he said. This year it will take only 100 volunteers.

The air show will be from 5:30 to 9 p.m. July 4 with an hour intermission from 7 to 8 p.m. to allow barge traffic through, he said.

Usually held the weekend after the Fourth, the show will be a patriotic display. It will include the missing man formation, in which several planes fly in formation until one breaks away, representing those who have fallen or departed.

The Lima Lima Flight Team will demonstrate maneuvers with day and night shows. The Golden Knights, a demonstration and competition parachute team of the United States Army, are scheduled for both the opening ceremony and a night show.

"We're expecting a great show in an interesting atmosphere. We'll be down on the water with an announcer and speaker system. We're planning on simulcasting the announcer's information with the public, so if they're watching from the River Campus or Red Star they can just tune in to AM 1250," Loy said.

As another new addition to Libertyfest, the Southside and Esprit Optimist Clubs of Cape Girardeau will hold a fundraiser to help fight childhood cancer involving the release of thousands of rubber ducks onto the Mississippi River. The ducks will be pitted against one another in a race from Kidd's Oil Dock to the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge. Tom Meyer, a member of both clubs and corporate sponsor of the event, said firefighters will use nets to capture the floating fowl as they reach boats stationed at the bridge.

"Controlled by the natural current, they won't be scattered because the current is strong enough to keep them together," Meyer said.

Those who wish to sponsor a duck or make a donation should visit www.duxonmiss.org/duck%20pictures/DuckRaceRules.pdf for an application. Four levels of giving, from a $10 donation to a $1,000 sponsorship, are available. About 2,000 ducks are expected to be entered into the race, which will include two trials, one for ducks sponsored with a donation of $250 or more and one for public ducks supported through donations.

While the deadlines for $1,000 and $500 duck sponsorships have passed, $250 sponsorships will be taken through Saturday. Individual $10 donations will be accepted until the start of the race.

The first and last ducks to complete each race will receive prizes, which will be announced before the race. For more information, call club representative Barb Schwepker of the Esprit Optimist Club at 332-1155 or Peder Leth of the Southside Optimist Club at 334-2222.

As an added bonus, this year's Libertyfest falls on the same day as the monthly First Friday event.

Delilah Tayloe, director of the arts council, said, "To my knowledge it is the first time the Fourth of July Libertyfest falls on a First Friday event. The arts council will showcase art representing artists from 15 states in the national juried show."

@calendar:

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133

Plan to go?

Have a comment?

Log on to semissourian.com