The Stafford Regional Airport Authority wants to celebrate the region as the “birthplace of aviation.”
At a recent meeting, the Stafford County Board of Supervisors were treated to a presentation by the Authority’s liaison Phil Hornung who proposed attracting potential tourists by leaning on the county’s connections to the beginnings of aviation.
History has always been a big selling point for tourism in the Stafford and Fredericksburg area and the Stafford Regional Airport Authority is looking to potentially tap that well in a very unexpected way.
On May 6, 1896 Professor Samuel Pierpont Langley launched his Aerodrome #5 from a boat off the coast of Chopawamsic Island which sits in the portion of the Potomac River that runs through Stafford County. This predates the famous Wright Brothers flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina by seven years.
The authority seeks to pursue a partnership with the county as well as Warrenton-based company The Wright Experience to create a display that will attract tourists interested in aviation to learn more about the events that make Stafford the birthplace of aviation. The original plan was to get the actual Aerodrome #5 on loan from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, but that was shot down by the Smithsonian.
The current plan conceived by the Airport Authority is to have a replica of the Aerodrome #5 created by the Wright Experience that will be on display in the airport’s building. The Wright Experience works on restoring and reconstructing historical aircraft.
Before the coronavirus pandemic made its worldwide impact, Stafford County was looking for ways to attract tourism to the area. While already known as the birthplace of George Washington, the county has been looking into other ways to attract people to visit Stafford.
Recent examples of such attempts involved attracting sports tourism such as bringing four games from the 2020 Jefferson Cup youth soccer tournament as well the Kayak Bass Fishing Trail Series Tournament.
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Compared to gas, electric lawn equipment can reduce emissions, noise pollution, health risks and maintenance costs and time. The program aims to remove about a hundred gas-powered polluting tools from yards in the greater Baltimore-Washington region.
The exchanges will take place the weekends of May 17-19, 2024, and May 31-June 2, 2024, at A Few Cool Hardware Stores network of employee-owned Ace Hardware stores in the DC and Baltimore metro areas. To participate and get your free Ego Power+ lawn tool, sign up at https://qrco.de/CAPExchange to reserve your tool and select your trade-in date and location.
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Free Irish Music Concert
Welcoming Spring with music from the Emerald Isle, the New Dominion Choraliers offer a FREE concert on Saturday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the First United Presbyterian Church of Dale City.
Joined by Legacy Brass and members of Old
Spring Ceili: An Irish Music Festival
The New Dominion Choraliers of Prince William County and McGrath Morgan Academy of Irish Dance invite you to join them at our Ceili, a grand celebration of Irish music and dance.
A gathering of performance groups throughout Prince William County
