Lower-flying Blue Angels jets end Westmoreland airshow on high note

Two days of poor weather prevented organizers from including a planned Navy Leap Frogs parachute jump and a multi-aircraft, cross-county flyover at the 2021 Shop ’n Save Westmoreland County Airshow.

But conditions improved enough Sunday to permit a low- altitude show by several other acts that had been scratched Saturday, including the headlining Blue Angels Navy jet demonstration team.

The team’s Sunday routine was especially welcome for Matt and Danielle Brazil of Ebensburg and their two children. They were among spectators who were disappointed when the Blue Angels and other acts were grounded Saturday, but they took advantage of an offer to return Sunday, or for a future show, without having to buy an additional ticket.

“We had tears for sure” on Saturday, said Danielle Brazil, noting her 3-year-old son, August, is particularly taken with the jet team. “He was looking forward to seeing them every day since we bought our tickets.”

This year’s event was the first airshow the Brazils attended at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity. But Matt, who works nearby, had seen aircraft taking to the skies to practice for previous shows.

“When we saw they were going to have the Blue Angels this year, we had to come,” he said. “It’s probably going to be an annual thing for us now.”

Eleven members of Apollo resident Michelle Vaglia’s family arrived in two vehicles to take in the sold-out show.

It featured a drive-in attendance limited to 1,000 vehicles each day, plus a smaller VIP section, because of covid-19 pandemic restrictions that were in place as the event was being planned.

Vaglia’s grandchildren had seen the Blue Angels in flight and explored their jets up close when they visited her former residence in Pensacola, Fla., near the team’s home base.

“These kids all wanted to be pilots for the Blue Angels,” she said. “When we told them they were going to be here, they got so excited. We had to bring them.”

The weather remained cool and damp, with intermittent light rain, on Sunday. But most of the spectators got out of their warm vehicles to fully enjoy the final act: the six Navy jets swooping and screeching together and separately in circular aerial patterns.

“It was a challenging weekend, but we’re certainly happy with the way things turned out,” said Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority, which operates the Arnold Palmer airport and holds the shows there. “We’re happy we had a chance to welcome everybody back.”

The weekend did not turn out well for Tom Smith of Nashville, Tenn. He sold a few earplugs to patrons concerned about loud jet engines but had few takers for the primary merchandise at his Sunglasses Unlimited vendor booth.

The sales he made were not enough to cover the cost of his hotel room, but he acknowledged weather is a factor that can’t be controlled.

“It’s OK,” he said. “You have to take the good with the bad.”