Jones Beach Air Show
Ever since I can remember there has been an air show held on Memorial Day Weekend at Jones Beach on Long Island, NY(where I grew up and live now). I never attended. That is, until last year.
Even though, I had worked in aviation for over 15 years, loved airplanes and the ocean, I still never went. Why? I never went is because I believed the negative hype. All of the locals always complained about how much traffic the air show brought, how crowded it made the beaches, and how you had to get there at seven in the morning just to get a parking spot. So, I never even tried.
Then, last year, after I had just changed up my life, yet again, to combine my two careers into one where I am teaching STEM and Aviation topics to kids, I realized it is time to bite the bullet and go. I am, after all, running a local aviation summer camp for kids. I should be at the Air Show getting kids excited about airplanes.
So, I did it. I got up early and drove there at 7am to beat the “alleged” traffic and fight my way through to get a spot at Jones Beach for the air show. To my surprise, I sailed right over the bridges and all the way through Suffolk County to Jones Beach in Nassau County with 3 hours to spare!!! By the way, I hate being early. So, I waited and waited and waited until finally the sky was filled with excitement.
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I sat in my beach chair taking in the aerobatics of all of the twirling civilian stunt planes and I watched as the Army’s Golden Knights glided out of an aircraft with their parachutes moving straight into a stunning performance set to music. I stood with my feet in the surf and awe on my mouth as I witnessed a flawless Coast Guard helicopter rescue simulation. Then, later when I thought it was safe to go get a frosty adult beverage, I was jolted out of my beachy daydream by the epic roar of a screaming jet engine! I brushed the spilled Pina Colada off my shorts and ran to the boardwalk to behold the F-35C hovering over MY BEACH! OMG!
It had been a long time since I lived on a Naval Air Station and heard that roar on the regular and man, I did not realize how much I missed it. There’s just something so, very thrilling about hearing a fighter jet fly overhead. It rattles your insides like nothing you’ve felt, it startles you even when you are ready for it and somehow leaves you (well me) smiling when it’s gone. I love it!
Needless to say, I was happy about my decision to go and I knew I wanted to keep going back every year and come back to represent my business and spread the word about my aviation summer camp for kids. I didn’t know what that would look like, but I knew it had to happen in some form.
Enter Jones Beach Air Show 2024 – Aspiring Aviators of Long Island attend the Air Show. This year, we just had a small presence. I had my cousin help me build some toy planes for kids, we put my branding stickers and QR codes on them and gave them away to kids along the boardwalk. One kid told me I was “the nicest person ever!” It was a very soft start, but I feel like it’s the beginning of a long, fun and fruitful relationship.
Actually, I’m still so stoked about the air show that now I’m trying to figure out a way to get me to Wisconsin for Air Venture. That looks like the air show to beat all air shows and I’m dying to get there. Who knows, maybe in a few months you’ll be reading my post about Air Venture, I certainly hope so!
Fair Winds and Following Seas
Danielle