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View photos from the 7th Annual Day in the Sky here.
This year's Day in the Sky was held on
April 30th at the Watsonville Airport!
Festival: 11:00 - 4:00
Lunch: 11:30 to 2:00 for a $3 donation.
The 7th Annual Day in the Sky is a FREE Accessibility Expo featuring up to 100 nonprofit groups, educational interactive displays, and vendors of assistive technologies & STEMA (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, & Aviation). The festival also included a static plane display, on the ground air school, a hot air balloon, music provided by a local DJ, face painters, Snoopy, accessible sports equipment demos,
and visits with live animals.
Unfortunately, we were not able to fly this year. We hope to offer flights again in the future.
Click here to read the informative press relase.
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We extend a huge thank you to all those who made
this event possible, especially:
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The festival featured a delicious barbecue lunch, hot air balloons, a petting zoo, visits from clowns and Aviator Snoopy, face painting, arts and crafts, golf lessons, science displays, and a bounce house. |
We also enjoyed speeches by the mayor of Watsonville and other local politicians, as well as theater and musical performances by two troupes consisting of individuals with special needs.
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Children and adults with special needs get to sit in the cockpit and learn about aviation.
Planes are provided by volunteer pilots.
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Click here
to download a one-pager with photos and
quotes about the event.
Click here for 2008 photos (you can even download or order copies).
Click here for the 2008 front-page news article from the Watsonville
Register-Pajaronian.
Click here
to read a front-page news article published in the Watsonville
Register-Pajaronian about the 3rd Annual Day in the Sky
on April 21, 2007.
Click here
for photos from Day in the Sky 2006.
Click here
to read a sampling of comments we have received from participants
and volunteers who attended Day in the Sky 2006.
 
At this event held at the Watsonville
Airport, 150 disabled and severely ill young people
of the Central Coast receive free, half hour airplane rides
from 25-35 volunteer pilots. Each participant attends a
pre-flight school to learn basic aviation principles, then
the children are taken flying over the spectacular California
coastline.
Each young person may invite 2 guest passengers
for his/her flight = 450 passengers flying that day. Each
challenged child is encouraged to take the aircraft controls
for short periods during the flight to experience the sense
of empowerment that comes from controlling an aircraft.
Simultaneously, we host a large ground festival and accessible
activities exposition at the airport. Over 800 people attended
the festival/expo last year.
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In addition to providing an exceptional
experience for challenged children, Day In The Sky raises
community awareness of the needs of special children. |
The event encourages community involvement
by engaging volunteers to make the event as special as possible
for the children who participate. Each year over 200 volunteers
showed up to help out.
To
view photos of Day in the Sky 2005 click here,
here,
and here.
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