Army of volunteers get CA Int’l Airshow Salinas get off the ground

It takes some 800 volunteers to help the California International Airshow Salinas get off the ground, and many of those are veterans. One of those volunteers is Army veteran Ken Thorp.

“Just being out here,” Thorp said, “Seeing the military jets, seeing all the people.”

Volunteers fill a number of different roles, whether it’s making food, helping the media, setting up tents, even helping kids through the Make a Wish Foundation.

“Their eyes light up,” Mike Lewis said. “They get a smile from ear to ear.”

Lewis spent four years in the service. He now helps serve families with the Make a Wish Foundation.

“Some of the pilots come in and sign autographs,” Lewis said. “And we feed them lunch and give them some posters and stuff and it’s a day away from home for them, so they can get out in the fresh air, see airplanes and they seem to really love it.”

Including the Hernandez family. Five year old Aaliyah suffers from a neurological disorder called Rett Syndrome.

“Make a Wish Foundation invited me and my daughter to come look at the airplanes,” Vanessa Hernandez said. “She’s liking it. She loves the noise, she likes the light.”

The flybys don’t bother Thorp either. He says it brings back better memories than not.

“I know for me,” Thorp explained, “When I was walking out there in the mountains, hearing a helicopter come and stuff, it got me excited. And seeing planes fly over, knowing that there was support there, it made me feel a lot better.”