Air show part of great week

Published 9:16 am Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Events that have become favorites for locals were held this weekend in Vicksburg.

The biennial Southern Heritage Air Foundation’s Best Little Air Show in the World kicked off Friday evening to record numbers.

“Our gate was 400 times what it was in 2014 (last night),” Patty Mekus, the foundation’s president, said of the Friday night showing.

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“Last time we raised about $1,800 at the gate. Last night it was close to $6,000. We’re expecting that today or better.”

The event, which is held at the Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional Airport in Mound and ran through Saturday, is a fundraiser that supports the Warrior Bonfire Project, an organization that benefits members of the U.S. Military who have been wounded in combat.

In addition to featured aerial acts, the air show also included a kid’s zone, vendors, a Lamborghini and Ferrari for people to drive and vintage planes.

More positives for Vicksburg:

• At noon on Friday, more than 150 people turned out for the ninth annual Classics in the Courtyard, the executive director of the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation Stacey Massey said.

The event offers a free concert and a meal for $10.

“This is something we offer to the community to highlight Vicksburg music talent and the flavors of Vicksburg. It’s really a lunch hour thing. It’s unique to be able to listen to a concert (during your lunch break),” Massey said.

• Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. has been named one of the Top 50 influential elected and appointed government officials in Mississippi by Y’all Politics, a political commentary website, and SuperTalk Mississippi, a statewide Mississippi radio station. The Mississippi Top 50 is a list of officials and business people in the state determined to be the most influential leaders in the state.

• Haven House Family Shelter victim’s advocate Krystal Hamlin and outreach coordinator Anna Burnett Tillotson, have been involved with outreach education during Domestic Violence Awareness month, and this week the pair went into a local high schools to talk with students about domestic violence.

Students were made aware of what domestic violence was, and they were informed that domestic violence carries an elevated felony offense in Mississippi.

“We also touched on the issue of sexual assault as it falls under the heading of interpersonal violence. The students had a lot of great questions regarding stalking, the difference in domestic violence and simple assault and some questions pertaining to consent in a relationship,” Tillotson said.