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By Paul Chasko

A group of Head Start kids from the Bentleyville area showed up early on a damp, overcast September morning at Finleyville Airport for a field trip. It looked like the trip would be a washout, but by mid-morning, the sun broke through and kids and parents alike had a great time learning about the airport and some of the planes that call Finleyville airport their home.

Kids, parents and teachers tour the hangers at Finleyville Airport.

The highlight of the morning occurred just before noon when the fog burned off, allowing a life flight helicopter to cruise in to the airport and land directly in front of the excited kids, parents and Head Start staff members. The pilots and crew of the helicopter allowed the kids and other visitors to climb around the aircraft (under their watchful eyes) and get a firsthand look at the inside of the helicopter. It turns out that one of the life flight pilots is also a member of Finleyville Airport and he arranged the fly-in just for the field trip. Their stop-over lasted about two hours – plenty of time for photos with the crew and to get answers to a lot of questions about flying around.

The day-trip ended with lunch - pizza from Dabuzi’s just down the road in Finleyville. The life flight crew had lunch with the kids, parents and airport members. Fortunately, there were no calls to interrupt lunch and the life flight helicopter and crew returned to their home base at the Rostraver Airport.

The airport members and the crew received a big thank-you from kids, parents and the Head Start staff for hosting their field trip. Finleyville Airport Manager Tom Reimer mentioned that this was the latest of annual field trips hosted by the Finleyville Airport for Head Start.

The Head Start program is administered as part of Community Action Southwest, which promotes comprehensive child development programs serving eligible children from ages 3 to 5. Their programs provide education (both central and home–based) with health and nutrition services all aimed at increasing school–readiness of young children and parents who might otherwise be unable to provide these necessary services.

Click on "Gallery" to see more photos of this event by Paul Chasko

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