Take a step back in time at 1940s Hangar Dance
Wings and Wheels event to coincide with Armed Forces Day
By Jack Hunter
It’s a night for nostalgia, dancing, and honoring those whose service and sacrifice helped save the free world as the Western Sky Warbird Aviation Museum hosts its sixth annual 1940s Hangar Dance May 19 at 6 p.m. There will be prizes for the best 1940s costumes, vintage aircraft on display, and the Southern Utah Rebel Jazz Band playing standards from the stars of the World War II era. The Red Rock Swing Dance club will perform 1940s-style dances, including their always popular Andrews Sisters’ routine.
The Wings and Wheels event jump starts the day and will go from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Vintage aircraft and classic cars will be in abundance along with vendors, museum displays, and aircraft fly-bys. Tickets are $5 can be purchased at the gate. Children 17 and under and all veterans and active-duty personnel enter free.
Two warbird rides — aboard a T-6 Texan and Twin Beech aircraft — will be available for a fee. Information on riding those aircraft can be found at utahwarbirdadventures.com.
Aircrafts making fly-bys include the Korean War-era MiG-15 UTI, T-33 Shooting Star, and the British Jet Provost. Food vendors include Zeppe’s and Lonny Boy’s Barbecue.
Three quarters of a century ago, more than 16 million American soldiers, sailors, and airmen served during the deadliest conflict in recorded history. From December 1941 to August 1945, they fought in places like Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Normandy, and Iwo Jima as more than 400,000 perished. Few families in America were untouched during the war.
As a sign of appreciation, the Western Sky Aviation Warbird Museum invites all World War II veterans to attend the dance for free and bring one guest. The veterans will be recognized at the dance, said event organizer Rebecca Edwards.
“It is imperative that we recognize and revere these WW II veterans while we still can,” Edwards said. “The war was fought more than 70 years ago, and it is to these men and women that we owe our freedom.”
Tickets are $20 per person, or $35 per couple if purchased by May 18. Tickets can be bought at the museum Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by calling (435) 229-4985. To purchase a ticket online, simply go to westernskywarbirds.org and donate the ticket amount. Print the receipt and show the receipt at the dance. There may be tickets available the date of the event. Those tickets, if available, will be $25 per person and $45 per couple.
For information, call (435) 669-0655. The Western Sky Warbird Aviation Museum is located at 4196 S. Airport Pkwy. in St. George.
Last year’s event sold out, so I recommend making your plans right away to join us May 19. Where else in the St. George area can you feel the spirit of the 1940s, complete with a big band?
Western Sky Aviation Warbird Museum is an independently operated, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, restoring, and displaying aircraft for the educational benefit of current and future generations. The museum is committed to the education of aviation warbird history and heritage to ensure that the sacrifices and contributions of all those who flew these historic aircraft will not be forgotten.
Jack Hunter is founder and director of the Western Sky Aviation Warbirds Museum.
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