July 4th 2010
Greetings to our valued sponsors, website visitors and Arctic Thunder Air Show enthusiasts!
On this, our most patriotic of days, we at the Alaska Air Show Association wish all of you a wonderful Independence Day! Welcome fellow fans! And welcome to our revitalized website!
We have a new look and new features. Find the latest updates for Arctic Thunder on our website, take a moment to visit our sponsor page—we honor the people, companies and corporation who help us make the air show Alaska’s largest attended two-day event.
You may have seen our beautiful posters going up around town (and featured on our website)—air show buzz is definitely in the air! You’ll also see on our website a shopping cart where you can exclusively purchase T-Shirts featuring the poster artwork, developed by Paul and Kimberleigh Gavin, who famously provide graphic art for air shows and fleet weeks nationwide.
We are now less than four weeks away from Arctic Thunder 2010, and by every appearance, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson will be hosting one of the most exciting air shows in recent memory. For the first time in recent memory, Arctic Thunder will feature two jet performance teams: the US Navy’s Blue Angels, and the Canadian Forces’ Snowbirds. You couldn’t fine two more complimentary jet teams.
In addition to the jet teams and the front-line military aircraft going through their paces, the Alaska Air Show Association, through the generous donations of our sponsors, will be providing four world-class civilian performers: Gary Ward, Jon Melby, Dan Buchanan, and Team Rocket. Along with Alaska’s own Marcus Paine, and Carol Pinon and her Third Strike Wingwalking, Arctic Thunder 2010 is going to be fantastic!
Let me elaborate for a moment on our sponsors. Given our present challenging economic situation, it is extremely satisfying that we have had so many returning sponsors of the Association, and many have, in fact, raised their level of giving! And we welcome all our new Sponsors! We are extremely grateful for the continuing support—support from our Sponsors helps make the Arctic Thunder the top-drawer event it is. On behalf of the Association Board of Directors and its Officers, I wish to extend a hearty thanks to all of them.
Lastly, a note of thanks in advance to Major Denis Paquette and his team of professionals at the base for bringing the air show together—great job!
Thank you one and all!
Respectfully,
William G. Kontess, Major, USAF (Ret)
President Alaska Air Show Association
