Rains once again spoil event; community fire chief, others honored at annual fly-in, camp-out event

By ANN Contributor Christine Weiss

Never was an event more true to its theme than Holleyfest 2004. The sixth annual “fly-in/camp-out” community open house and pilot's block party, dedicated this year to the proposition of being a “good neighbor,” took flight as scheduled October 8 and 9 at Holley Mountain Airpark, near Clinton (AK). There was one hitch, however. There were no planes.

 
Prepped to accommodate 1,000 to 1,200 aviation enthusiasts, with over 250 pilots pre-registered for the FAA Wings Safety Program, the skies spilled over with rain all weekend. The campfire circle, planned for Friday night turned into a lake and the FAA Temporary Control Tower guys joked about landing planes with pontoons.

Frosting the ironic cake, this was the second year in a row that the annual event succumbed to stormy weather. “In 2003, we at least had a forecast for clear skies for Sunday and were able to carry things over,” said Jim Collom, Airpark developer and president of the AR01 Chapter of the United States Pilots Association. “But this year, the front stalled right over us and showed no signs of relief.”

Still, over the course of the weekend, roughly 200 aviation enthusiasts arrived by ground and one pilot did fly in for the event. He landed on Thursday. Friday night festivities, moved indoors to Jim & JoAnn Collom's hangar, featured an evening of music, tall tales, good food, camaraderie and fun.

Clarence Phillips sang "Among the Stars and Cedar Trees," a poem written by James Harness, set to music by Joe Tebo, and performed at Holleyfest by the Lost Creek Band, featuring Alan Rolen, lead guitarist, and several members of the Rolen family.

Harness was born in 1934 to Holley Mountain during an era when home-birthed babes grew to strong, young adults and nary set foot out of the Ozark meadows and woods. Where airplanes now land at Holley Mountain Airpark, mule-drawn plows and long days of sun-drenched cultivating harvested table crops that, with diligent preserving, were sufficient to keep a family well fed. Recollections of this labor-intensive yet heavenly quality of family life and its soul-satisfying rewards inspired James to write the poem “Among the Stars and Cedar Trees.”

The comedic wit of Kathy Boone. who serves as Postmaster in Choctaw, brought peals of laughter from the crowd as she portrayed a sullied woman, castigating John Hastings of Clinton Cable for “two-timing her with his wife...!!!”

A cadre of local celebs mixed and mingled, including Jim Burnett, past chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, and Sid King, of KGFL/KHPQ Radio. King regaled the crowd with his first-hand account of the Damascus Missile Silo Crisis and Titan II Missile Explosion. "I figured my Dodge Omni would outrun a nuclear blast," he chuckled with hindsight, while acknowledging that the incident was both frightening and tragic for all involved.

Saturday dawned with more of the same and found Holleyfest Planners busily moving festivities indoors. A hardy array of vendors and exhibitors, including Patti Allen of Quilt In Time and KD BBQ, set up shop and opened for business as folks gathered 'round in the Collom hangar, ready for the pilot education program.

As dewdrops persisted, immersing the pastoral mountaintop in a misty aura of iridescent haze, Holleyfest co-coordinator Joe Marshall welcomed participants to the aviation safety program.

Joseph Calamita of JBR AFSS and Jerry Chism, Assistant Director of the Arkansas Aeronautics Board, reviewed the aviation safety and support services provided by their respective organizations. Caleb Rice of the FAA facilitated the Wings Safety Program.

Concluding the morning agenda, the VFW District 6 Ladies Auxiliary Color Guard presented and posted the colors, followed in succession by the event dedication, invocation and lunch.

Jim & JoAnn Collom, developers of Holley Mountain Airpark, accompanied by granddaughter Katelyn and her friend, greeted Airpark visitors, thanked a long list of volunteers, introduced key personnel, and welcomed everyone to the event. The keynote address was given by community leader, environmental activist, former Mayor of the city of Clinton and past Confidential Assistant to the Chief of Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, Don Richardson.

Among those acknowledged by Jim Collom in his introductory remarks was his brother, Bill, who joined the Airpark staff as Office Manager earlier this year. "He came in and helped at a needed time," Jim said.

"Myself, Bill and our sister Linda, who now resides in Wisconsin, grew up in a home without a lot of the finer things of life," Jim Collom recalled. "However we did have the most important thing, and that was unconditional love from both of our parents, along with the teachings to be honest, kind and believe in self and what you do."

Collom also gave special thanks to Billy Linn, Clarence Phillips, Christine Weiss, J.F. & Cheryl Williams, and to the "numerous Holley Mountain volunteers that provided hours and hours of service under the direction of our coordinators this year, John Oakland and Joe Marshall."

Collom additionally praised "the many employees of the Federal Aviation Administration who descend upon Van Buren County this one weekend a year, from around the state,” to provide their aviation safety and education services. "Without all of these people," Collom lauded, "we would not be here today. This event would not be possible but for the many hours of their relentless work!"

Collom described the many changes that have come to the Airpark since January of 1999, when the now blacktopped 2A2 runway was a "long 100 ft wide muddy thing running thru our property" and he woke up many mornings asking himself: "What have you done this time, BOY?"

"We started this Airpark dream with the attitude that it would be the BEST or it wouldn’t happen!" Collom reminisced. "JoAnn & I both believed in what this place is to become. You notice I said 'Is to become,' because we are far from completing all the goals we set for Holley Mountain Airpark!"

Collom spoke with admiration for the "first handful of residents that trusted us. You know who you are," he elaborated. "You are the guys that didn’t even have a road to your properties, only BIG piles of brush in your way, when you bought in. We’ve come a long way together," Collom acknowledged, also sharing accolades with the banking professionals who believed in the dream and backed the project financially.

"Thank you for making the choice to join our Airpark Family," Collom concluded his introductory remarks. "We love you all for choosing to fulfill your life’s dreams on this Mountain. We hope you will find this to be your most rewarding investment in the enjoyment of life."

"We are here for another important dedication today," Collom addressed a focal recognition of this year's Holleyfest. Citing the coincidence of Holleyfest being held during National Fire Prevention Week, he said it made the tribute of naming the Holley Mountain Airpark Fire Department's fire station in honor of Dan Davison, the First Fire Chief of Atlanta, Texas, doubly appropriate.

"This is a way we can give back to someone who, though not immediate family, had a profound impact on my life and the lives of others," Collom revered.

Calling Mary Beth Davison-James and Danny Clayton to the podium, Collom thanked the former Fire Chief's family for making the trip from their home in Shreveport, Louisiana, to personally accept this tribute of appreciation. As Bill Collom awarded each recipient an Airpark lapel pin, Jim Collom recounted his long association with Fire Chief Dan. "A long time ago -- longer than I want to admit -- when Danny was riding tricycles in the engine room at the old fire station, I was a young fireman in our hometown of Atlanta, Texas, under Mary Beth’s dad and Danny’s grandfather, Fire Chief Dan Davison," Collom told.

"Dan was a true leader! Dan was the same Dan, every day! He was the type of man this world needs many more of today! He was a Great Mentor to many, many young men throughout the years of his un-relented community service to our little hometown. His record of Chief spanned for nearly twenty three years -- from early 1951 until 1973. Twenty three years," Collom exclaimed. "How many Fire Chiefs do we know that stay twenty three years at any city department? And, if his health would have let him, he would have been there today.”

"Unfortunately, Dan passed away in 1975," Collom continued. "But the training, guidance and confidence he gave me remains a part of my life, today." Collom's unabashed expression of reverence, offered with obvious affection and high regard, rippled through the Holleyfest gathering with the powerful warmth of a brotherly hug.

"We at Holley Mountain Airpark are honored and happy to honor our beloved friend, Fire Chief Dan Davison, and to present you, Mary Beth and Danny, a plaque in memoriam of his legacy to the people's lives he touched along the way, by naming the Holley Mountain Airpark Fire Department facility in his name, The Dan Davison Emergency Center."

"Provide what you say you will," Jim Collom, concluding the 6th annual Holleyfest agenda, summed-up his ethic for life. "Do what is expected of you. Be loyal to family. Be loyal to your friends and neighbors. If you do that, you will enjoy the friendships of them all. You will be a good neighbor and be living a very good life."

FMI: www.HolleyMountainAirpark.com