Airventure & Agendas

This past week my family had the opportunity to attend a few days of “Airventure,” the largest airshow in the US.  In typical Airventure fashion, there were spectacular stunt pilots, endless displays of aircraft vendors, buildings full of widgets and gadgets, and a flea market (otherwise known as the “fly” market) where one can purchase the latest in non-stick cookware.  Needless to say, it is not a difficult event to find something enjoyable to latch onto and explore.  Although I’ve been to the show many times in the past, this year was particularly special as my folks traveled from Pennsylvania to spend time before we head out for language school.

My Agenda was pretty simple:

·         Attend a business meeting on Wednesday night…”Check”

·         Do some research on market potential for ag tanks…”Check”

·         See as much (as possible) that the airshow had to offer…”check”

·         Eat something fried…”Check, and Double Checked”  Wisconsin cheese curds J

Not on my agenda, but beyond coincidence (if there is such a thing)

·         Meeting up with Lawrence & Jodie Elroy, the first family to complete the Proclaim program!  Pretty cool to see the various mission organizations represented at such a large event, and Lawrence & Jodie were doing a fantastic job of sharing about the work of New Tribes Mission (the organization they have been serving with since completing Proclaim over 10 years ago). 

God having some Fun

I have no idea of how many people attended the airshow on any given day, but the total number of unique visitors ranges around a half million people throughout the week. (imagine the picture below stretching as far as you can see left and right along the runway) 

While waiting for the night airshow to begin on Saturday, I stretched out on the ground between a couple of empty chairs directly in front of where we were sitting. Next thing I know Gioconda is waking me up because two gentlemen came to take their seats for the show. What do you think the odds are that out of a bazillion people we’ve never met, they would have specific ties to mission aviation and we would end up making a connection, let alone even talking to one another?

What a great few days!