It’s almost time for the sky to light up as the 3rd of July show is just around the corner and Gary Weiner, account executive at Total Image Marketing, is telling us how the event is organized and what goes into the planning. Going all of these years to the 3rd of July show myself, I found it interesting to hear some information from someone behind the scenes.Hello Gary, can you tell me a little bit about the event?
This is the single largest event in Dubuque. This is the 24th annual year that Radio Dubuque has been involved with the event. It is a combination air-show and fireworks display. The Air Force has estimated our crowd at, well, let’s just say in the tens of thousands.
Where is the show located?
The central location for the show is at Bowling and Beyond’s parking lot on 1860 Hawthorne St. The firework show starts at 9:45 and typically lasts around 25-30 minutes. The air show runs from about 6:00-8:15.
The air-show act will be including the Chinook helicopter, B-1 Bomber, A-10 Warthog among several other stunt planes. Here’s an interesting fact; the B-1 Bomber needs to be at Mt. Rushmore when they are done with the show here. When they leave from here on their high speed climb, that’s where they are going and they will arrive @ Mt. Rushmore in a matter of double digit minutes.
Yeah, when they are near the ground they have to limit the speed to .9 mach speed or else windows and other things will start breaking, but when they are up in the air they can go as fast as they want.
How is Runde’s involved in the event?
All of the pilots and crew need transportation to and from the airport and around town. Runde’s helps us by supplying pilots with vehicles for their transportation needs. Last year we worked with Runde’s and to put it shortly, we were very impressed.
When we came to pick up the vehicles from Runde’s, they supplied us with a 15-passanger van and the rest were Suburbans or TrailBlazers. We were thrilled with the quality of the vehicles and the service Runde’s has provided us, it was outstanding.
Keep in mind these pilots and their crews do these shows all year long and have driven several vehicles provided by dealers for their transport. But when the pilots call us back and tell us “Wow, these are really nice vehicles”, you know that they don’t get that quality of vehicle in other places. So you guys did an outstanding job. It impresses the pilots and influences where they choose to go next time they decide what shows to do next year. If I can say one thing it would be that you guys did a great job. It was well above our expectations.
How long has Runde’s been involved with the event?
This would be the 2nd year. We have done deals with various other places over the years but we want to continue to do it here with Runde’s – you guys are the ticket.
What’s your favorite part of the show?
The end… I get to go home and sleep! But honestly I like the B-1 which is a bomber, stealth aircraft – they go fast.
Is there a fee to get in?
No. It’s free to the public.
I hear that there is something going down on the 2nd of July?
Yes, we are going to parachute jump The Golden Knights at 7:00pm at Nativity Church on AltaVista on Thursday July 2nd. Runde’s is letting us borrow vehicles for that event as well.
Thank you for sharing some information with us, we here at Runde’s can’t wait to go to it!
The event promises to be a great time, we hope to see you there!
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