BRUNSWICK, Maine — Camped under the wing of a U.S. Air Force C5 Galaxy cargo plane, 9-year-old Juelmae Watson of South Berwick played with pens, stickers and balloons bearing the Air Force insignia Saturday afternoon at the 2015 Great State of Maine Air Show.
Along with her dad and family friends, Watson arrived early at Brunswick Executive Airport and spent the morning rock climbing and bungee jumping at various military recruitment stations, then sat in the shade of the enormous plane to see U.S. Air Force F-22 raptors and the U.S. Navy Blue Angels soar overhead later in the day.
Representatives of the Air Force had handed out the swag as she waited in line to board the C5 Galaxy, Watson said.
“I always wanted to join the military,” Watson said. “I thought it would be a fun thing to do.”
Tens of thousands of fans poured into Brunswick Landing Saturday for the first day of the two-day air show.
Performers got under way just after noon. Among the acts, “sky dancer” Anna Serbinenko performed aerial acrobatics, and Kent Pietsch drew laughs with his aerial comedy act. The Blue Angels took to the sky close to 3:30 p.m., but only five of the six jets flew due to what air show spokesman Herb Gillen said were mechanical problems in New Jersey.
Until Brunswick Naval Air Base closed in 2011, the U.S. Navy sponsored air shows. The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, the entity charged with redeveloping the former base, organized the 2012 show. The Air Show Network, a private company, was hired to run this year’s show. Among the most notable changes, the company operated the concession stand, not nonprofit groups.
Parents from Cub Scout pack 699 from Bowdoinham sold ice cream, soda and water and would keep 10 percent of the proceeds. Pack master Cathy Curtis said by 1:30 p.m. the pack had netted about $125.
Scattered across the runway, U.S. Coast Guard Sea Cadets in uniform sold water and frozen lemonade. Grace Williamson, 15, of Standish said she spent a week this summer training with the Coast Guard as part of the sea cadet program.
Zachary Van der Wert, 18, a 2015 graduate of Brunswick High School, stood near the C5 Galaxy watching the jets soar. Van der Wert will leave for Air Force basic training in November, he said.
“I have mechanical aptitude,” he said. “And I want to travel a little bit, and there are a lot of benefits. I’d like to have a good job when I get out.”
Not everyone at Brunswick Landing Saturday was there to support the air show. Standing at the entrance to the former Navy base, members of Veterans for Peace held signs protesting what they say are “machines of war.”
Bruce Gagnon of Bath, who has protested at every air show since 2003, called the event “a massive high-tech recruiting scene,” objected to the “tremendous waste of money during a time of austerity,” and said the shows contribute to the Pentagon’s “carbon blueprint.”
The air show continues on Sunday.