From the clouds to the tarmac at the Old Tyme Fly-in
Colusa airways were busy on Saturday as dozens of planes flew in, creating quite a spectacle for the hundreds of onlookers that gathered at the Colusa County Airport for the 23rd annual Colusa County Old Tyme Fly-in.
Event Coordinator Randy Johnson said the event is hosted each year by the Colusa County Aviation Association to encourage families to get out and explore aviation.
“It’s great to see the little kids out here enjoying themselves,” Johnson said. “Stuff like this is what makes future pilots.”
While at the event, attendees had the opportunity to watch a variety of unique planes fly in, talk to the pilots that operate these aircrafts and get up close and explore them.
“This event gives kids a chance to talk to these pilots,” Johnson said. “It creates kind of a comradery between the older and younger generations as they share their love of aviation.”
Johnson said that about 130 planes participated in the event, flying in from all over the state including San Jose and Oakland.
Tom Dyer traveled 150 miles from Sparks, Nevada for the event, and was awarded the farthest distance traveled award.
After landing, these unique aircrafts parked on the tarmac for attendees to admire up close. Among them was a bright blue 1938 Travel Air Airplane, which took home the award for oldest aircraft at the event.
If plane watching worked up an appetite, attendees could also partake in a sausage, egg and pancake breakfast complete with orange juice, coffee and even a piece of cake.
Breakfast was served in one of the hangers at the airport, with the sounds of the pilots radio buzzing in the background.
copy of his file, with no response.
He hopes to move to Hawaii – where he once lived – but on top of unexpected living costs, applications cost $35 each and ding against his credit each time it’s checked.
“I was told I can sit here and save money I would be spending elsewhere,” Najjar said. “I didn’t realize at the time (the paperwork) was a contract.”
His neighbor, a woman who lives behind him, is paying the same amount for a smaller trailer in the park and isn’t allowed to move into a larger trailer that is unoccupied. And those who are charged and miss payments may be evicted, he said.
When Max first moved into the trailer in January, she was told by her FEMA caseworker that she had 18 months to rest and save her money to figure out what comes next. But now, six months in, the pressure has risen and evacuees, once a month, must provide proof that they’re looking for somewhere else to live and for employment. But she didn’t have insurance, and rent in Chico and other Butte County communities have sky-rocketed since the disaster. She doesn’t have the money to move into an apartment while also trying to rebuild.
She has a trailer ready to park on the Paradise
Johnson said the Fly-in takes months of planning and preparation, along with the help of over 25 volunteers and lots of community support.
“If we didn’t have all the volunteers and community support we could not make this all happen,” Johnson property. But just to get a temporary utility pole for electricity and phone (which Pacific Gas and Electric Co. doesn’t cover) costs $3,500, she said. It will cost $5,500 to get her well water system going (the quality was tested and is good), and another $3,500 to get the property lines re-evaluated. She is a licensed flooring contractor, said.
Four scouts from Boy Scouts of Colusa Troop 5 came out to lend a hand during the event, helping with everything from set up to serving breakfast and cleaning.
Scout Henry Gewett, 11, said he has been helping at the Fly-in event for the last three or four years.
“I like looking at all the airplanes and helping cook the eggs and pancakes,” Gewett said.
A raffle was also held during during the breakfast, with dozens of local commodities given away including nuts, rice, olive oil, beans and gift certificates from area businesses. Other prizes included a Weber barbecue, gift baskets, tool sets, hats and tumblers.
Johnson said 90 percent of the raffle prizes were donated by generous community but doesn’t have the resources to get her business up and going again.
“Paradise just got $271 million—where’s that going?” she asked.
And Max is concerned that only those with great insurance and who are wealthier have input in the rebuilding process. She attends every council meeting and is happy to businesses members.
These local donors included ADM, Allen Myers, Alsco Geyer, Auto Zone, Beeler Tractor, California Family Foods, Rocco’s on the River, Caffinated, Clint Jewett, Colusa County Farm Supply, Colusa Meat Market, the County of Colusa, Davison Drugs, Denise Carter, Donna Critchfield, Griff’s Feed and Seed, Habeneros, Hoblit Motors, In-harvest, Randy and Melody Johnson, Colusa Milling Co., Kittle’s, Les Schwab, Mary Winters, Meridian Diesel, Meridian Supply, Messick’s Ace Hardware, N & S Tractor, Ramos Oil, Reading Oil, Richter Aviation, Riverbank Pizza, Sacramento River Aviation, Simplot, Superior Tire Service, TNT Swap Meet, Tri Counties Bank, Valley Air, Willbur Ellis, and Sweco. and see that residents get a chance to put a green or red, yes or no, sticky note under poster boards with ideas and plans. But she knows many evacuees have left the area, or are unable to afford the drive up every other week, let alone eat some days.
Emotional trauma
Najjar learned that he lost his home while watching the news.
He’s a believer of constant progress and moving forward. Volunteers who went up to his Magalia property combed for anything salvageable found a coffee cup he used each morning on his porch with his cat. When he went to see his home after the fire, he left a pair of shoes behind.
“I thought, I’m not coming up here again,” he said.
He understands the sadness that comes with the loss of everything: photographs of his travels all over the world, mementos of his late wife. And though the weight of that hits at different times, he tries to stay strong and accept that he has no other choice but to move on.
“You lost yours, I lost mine and guess what? We’re all here together,” Najjar said.
Vega, who lived just outside of Paradise, stayed at his home until 11 a.m. His car was low on gas and had a weak battery. Embers rained down as he used a leaf blower to rid pine needles on his roof, and he finally decided that he too, should leave.
“I had high hopes I could save this place,” he said.
It took two weeks to find out the fate of his Arden Way home. He has remained thankful that he and his family made it out alive, and that he has options for where to go next. But returning to his property the first time after the fire was surreal.
“The first few times going back I was in shell shock because it feels like it didn’t happen to me,” Vega said.
Max laments the loss of the home where her children spent holidays and Johnny Appleseed and Gold Nugget days, adding to a large garden that an appraiser valued at $80,000 worth of plants and trees.
“My mom just made magic in that house,” Max said.
A man she met through mutual friends, Mike Cupp, has agreed to help restore Max’s mother’s 1929 Ford F-100 –which was slightly burned in the fire. Though Cupp is an Oregon resident, he too has a connection to the Camp Fire – five of his wife’s relatives lost homes. He plans to restore the truck and adorn it with fire-related artifacts like burnt logs. He also hopes to showcase the truck at car shows all over the state, teaching people about what happened.
A Vietnam veteran, Cupp said he’s seen parallels of healing between his time in the military and post-fire.
“These people need to have their story told and not forgotten,” Cupp said in a phone interview Friday. “I saw people come together and strengthen each other.”
Despite the tragedy, Max said there are lessons to be learned. Now, she has a new way of looking at things—with nothing to lose, she’s confronted, asked and communicated in ways she never has before.
“Every time I went back (to Paradise) there used to be this big cry,” she said. “Now, I smile every time I get into town.”