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I am the chairman of the military vehicle portion of the 2010 WACO MILITARY EXPERIENCE in Troy Ohio July 9,10 & 11. This will be the second year for this event and we are going to make it bigger and better! By all accounts the 2009 show was very well like by those that attended and everybody says it was very well done and has great potential.
Our biggest obstacle in 2010, as far as military vehicles go, is that the show is at the same time as the MVPA national Convention in Topeka, Kansas July 8-10. This will cause us to loose some potential vendors, participants and attendees. In 2011 this won't be a problem because the MVPA convention is in August at the Nutter Center in Dayton.
Please look this posting over and let me know if it sounds like an event you would like to attend or if you have any suggestions to help us reach our goal as one of the premiere Military shows in the Midwest.
To try and help judge the interest in this years event I am looking for input and the level of interest in attending from the following groups;
Military vehicle owners All makes, models, size, period or country. Including amphibious vehicles.
Reenactors All periods
Vendors Vehicle parts, militaria, reenactor supplies and books.
Aircraft owners Flyovers, displays WACO Field has a grass 2200 foot runway (1800 feet usable)
Military collectors For displays, all periods
Photos from last years event can be seen at these links
by aragh_wolf http://www.flickr.com/photos/aragh_wolf/3710220879/
by cavscout217 http://www.flickr.com/photos/wc62/
4th of July Parade
For 2010, the Troy 4th of July committee has asked us to participate with vehicles etc. in their parade which is something we are looking forward to doing. Due to the fact the parade will be the weekend before the show we will be planning some kind of "Military Week" displays or activities throughout the week around the Troy area to keep the interest level up during the week between the 2 events.
Some of the proposed events
Amphibious vehicle swim demo
This past year we were fortunate enough to have 2 amphibious vehicles in attendance at the show, a DUKW and a LVT4. The owners of these vehicles have expressed their desire to "swim" their vehicles at the 2010 event. Work has begun to try and secure the permission to stage an amphibious event in the Great Miami River which flows through downtown Troy as part of the Historic River Corridor project the city is promoting in 2010. If we get approval for this I would hope we could atract more amphibious vehciles.
Time line marching unit
It has been suggested that along with vehicles in the July 4th parade we will try to get together a marching unit that will be a timeline type of thing with reenactors from all periods as well as perhaps current service members.
Sunday morning military field religious service
We would like to have a WW2 style (you now, off the hood of a jeep) non denominational religious service. We need to locate a reenactor that can portray a WW2 military chaplain, or a minister willing to play the part.
More aircraft content
The committee is working hard to increase the aircraft content of this year's show.
Numerous pilots have expressed interest in participation in the event next year including the Commemorative Air Force and the Bamboo Bomber .We have a ride pilot interested in the weekend who flies a New Standard biplane that can haul 4 passengers at a time. We are also planning a display of aircraft engines both static and running. We hope to have a flyover of a C-5A Galaxyfrom Wright Patterson AFB.
More information on the WACO AIR MUSEUM and WACO Field.
http://www.wacoairmuseum.org/index.htm
2010 WACO MILITARY EXPERIENCE website (still partially under construction)
http://www.wacomilitary.com/
Mike Haines
(937)773-5831
http://victoryineurope.yolasite.com/