MAPLE — Currituck County’s second annual combined aviation and agricultural festival began with a running start on Saturday.
This year’s “Planes and Plows” celebration got underway at Currituck Regional Airport at 11 a.m., about 30 minutes after officials wrapped up an awards ceremony for nearly 200 runners who participated in the first-ever Race on the Runway. The race raised about $5,000 for Kids First, Inc. in Elizabeth City.
Saturday a was day filled with activities at the airport, as the Currituck County Sheriff’s Office held its Community Night Out starting in the afternoon and ending around 7 p.m.
Planes and Plows, held for the first time last year, replaced Aviation Day and the Farm Festival, two separate events that in the past were celebrated one weekend apart. This year’s event featured more than a dozen planes and several classic farm tractors. There were also food vendors and more than a dozen crafts booths and displays by area service organizations and businesses.
The bulk of the festival was held on an airfield road that runs parallel to the airport’s busy runway.
“The event was a great success,” said Airport Manager William Nelson. “We hope the community enjoyed the day. We had beautiful weather and that certainly shows with the attendance of 4,000-plus starting at 8 a.m. with the race and ending at 7 p.m.”
Nelson thanked several partners, including the Currituck Center of NC Cooperative Extension, College of The Albemarle, Elizabeth City State University, the sheriff’s office, airport staff and county personnel.
One youngster enjoying the afternoon was 2-year-old Matthew Stretz, who was seated at the controls of a small helicopter. Matthew loves airplanes and tractors, said his mother, Heather Stretz.
The small two-seat helicopter was parked outside COA’s aviation maintenance training hangar and is no longer used for flying. The aircraft is one of several donated to COA’s aviation maintenance program that trains students for careers as aircraft mechanics, said COA instructor Jim Stanton.
Several people, young and old, were browsing the different aircraft and flight simulators on display inside the COA hangar. Stanton said the COA program currently has 25 first-year students enrolled and about 10 second-year students.
Regarding the agricultural part of Saturday’s festival, 2-year-old Ashton Ferracci was manning the wheel of a John Deere tractor and was joined by his father, Mason.
“It’s awesome,” Mason Ferracci said of Planes and Plows. “It’s a great time for the kids.”
The Race on the Runway began at 8:30 a.m. with the “10K Tarmac,” a roughly 6.5-mile multi-terrain trek that led runners off the airport grounds and around the airfield before ending at the starting point. A “Flight Deck 5K” followed at 9 a.m. and a “1 Mile Taxi Trot” capped off the morning’s running events.
Race on the Runway raised money for Kids First Inc., an Elizabeth City nonprofit that provides an array of services for abused and neglected children.
“This is wonderful, absolutely wonderful,” said Rhonda Morris, Kids First’s executive director. “For a group to put on a big event like this for us, I mean, we have nine employees — it’s a challenge for us to be able to put together an event.”
Kids First does host an annual “5K Turkey Trot,” which is held at Waterfront Park in Elizabeth City the first Saturday after Thanksgiving.
“But to do a huge, wonderful event like this, I just can’t thank all the sponsors and Currituck County enough,” Morris said. “I just can’t thank them enough.”
Kids First, Inc. serves all seven counties of the North Carolina’s 1st Judicial District, which includes Currituck.
Morris said proceeds from the race will be designated as unrestricted funds that can be used as matching funds when Kids First seeks state and federal grants. Every dollar of unrestricted funds gets Kids First $4 in state and federal grant money, she said.
Race on the Runway coordinator Patricia Sansotta said more than 200 people had registered to participate but there were some did not show up. According to the website runtheast.com, 55 runners completed the 10K Tarmac, another 80 people finished the Fight Deck 5K and 28 people took part in the Taxi Trot.
Sansotta described the number race participants as a “super fantastic crowd” supporting a “wonderful cause.”
“A lot of people came out to support them,” Sansotta said. “The sponsors bore the costs of the financials, so that most of the registration (fees) went entirely to Kids First.
“I think we did over $5,000; I don’t have the final yet,” she said. “So, yea, it’s phenomenal.”
Sansotta said planning for the different racecourses began about six months ago, in particular the unique 10K course.
“This is the only 10K in the region,” she said. “It’s a tough course. It’s a trail course. I think that’s new to the area and I thought it was nice to have three different event to choose from.”
Planes and Plows was a “great venue” to couple the race with, she said.
Sansotta said while she coordinated Race on the Runway, she was assisted by several sponsors and volunteers.
She had good news for runners who are hoping Race on the Runway was not a one-off event.
“As far as I know, we’re doing this again next year,” Sansotta said.
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