BRUNSWICK, Maine — After a World War II veteran announced Friday that he would boycott the Great State of Maine Air Show because the private company operating it will not waive admission for veterans, the organization charged with redeveloping the former Brunswick Naval Air Station — where the show will take place — said Monday that it would buy a ticket to the show for any veteran who can’t afford one.
But 89-year-old Conrad Lebourdais of Topsham, who announced the boycott, still won’t attend, he said Monday.
Although Lebourdais said he can afford to pay full price and would love to watch the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and other performers fly over the former Navy base, he is standing firm on his pledge to boycott the show because “it’s the principle.”
Lebourdais believes that men and women who served in the U.S. armed forces should not have to pay to attend an airshow featuring military aircraft and personnel. When the Navy hosted airshows before the base was decommissioned in 2011, admission was free.
According to Lebourdais, when he called the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, which is redeveloping the base and which hired The Air Show Network to run The Great State of Maine Air Show on Labor Day weekend, he was told there would be no discount for veterans — although he said a MRRA employee offered to help him out.
General admission tickets cost $25 in advance and $30 at the gate for adults; $12.50 in advance and $15 at the gate for children younger than 17; and are free for children younger than 4.
“He told me, ‘Conrad, I’ll buy you a ticket,’” Lebourdais said. “I said, ‘No, no, I can buy my own ticket. It’s the principle.”
Since word of Lebourdais’ protest ran Friday in The Bangor Daily News, he’s heard from many veterans who have told him they also plan to boycott.
One told him, “By the time I take my three grandchildren — and they’ll want a hamburg, it’s going to cost me over $100. No no, we’re not going.’”
The Bangor Daily News attempted to reach Jim Breen, president of The Air Show Network, on Friday. As of 12:30 p.m. Monday, he had not returned that phone call.
In a letter to the editor issued Monday, MRRA executive director Steve Levesque wrote that after hearing about Lebourdais’ protest, the authority — not The Air Show Network — “will gladly buy a ticket for any veteran who truly cannot afford the $25 admission to attend.”
But no official discount will be offered and the ticket price will not be waived, he said.
Levesque wrote in part that while airshows sponsored by the military were free to the public, “they were anything but free to put on as they were supported primarily by our tax dollars.”
“These airshows cost money to put on,” he said by phone Monday. While acknowledging that the Blue Angels fly for free, and provide their own fuel, the airshow organizer must pay for the pilots’ rental cars and for security — more than $100,000 for the Blue Angels and a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor alone — as well for all the other acts and their expenses, including hotel rooms, and public safety (fire and rescue), insurance and marketing.
In addition to the Blue Angels and the F-22 Raptor, the U.S. Marine Corps C-130 “Fat Albert” and a World War II B-25 Panchito, among other acts, are also scheduled to perform.
In 2012, Levesque told the Bangor Daily News that the cost of that year’s show was $879,000.
The Blue Angels have performed at airshows at Brunswick Naval Air Station for four decades, drawing as many as 200,000 people to the free events before the base closed on May 30, 2011.
The 2011 Great State of Maine Air Show, sponsored by the authority and featuring the Blue Angels, was the first to charge admission. About 25,000 people attended the show, which was cut short by a day due to weather.
More than 40,000 people attended the 2012 air show, featuring the Air Force Thunderbirds, at Brunswick Executive Airport, the former Navy airstrip that has been converted to civilian reuse.
At both events, local nonprofit organizations and charities operated the concessions stands. This year, The Air Show Network will do so.
While Levesque said MRRA did offer “a slight discount” to veterans both years it ran the show, he said that was “irrelevant” because the The Air Show Network is a private company.
The Air Show Network plans to hold 85 air shows in 2015, featuring the Blue Angels, the Thunderbirds or the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds, according to the company’s website.
“I am eternally grateful for Mr. Lebourdais and all the other veterans for their service to our country,” Levesque wrote. “While we can always do more to support our veterans, there are many support programs available. As a veteran myself, I have benefited greatly from this country’s support of my service. I received my education through the GI Bill, I was able to purchase my home with a VA loan and I hope to access my VA medical benefits after retirement. However, I do recognize that private enterprise cannot provide its services for free.”
Any veteran who cannot afford a ticket to the Brunswick show should call MRRA at 798-6512. If they provide their DD Form 214 to prove they served in the military, MRRA will purchase a ticket for them.
That’s not good enough for Lebourdais, though. If anything, he’s more determined than ever to boycott.
“People at Goodwill and Shop ‘n Save [Hannaford] told me, ‘You did a good thing, Conrad,’” he said. “A lot of people told me, ‘It’s a good thing you [did] that. It’s going to wake up the people.’”