Letters to the Editor (Sept. 16, 2018)
World-class air show
What a weekend. We hope you enjoyed the Frontiers in Flight Air Show as much as we did. As we walked around the ramp during the show, we couldn’t help but notice the smiles and the excitement that radiated from the crowd as the jets roared overhead.
We were floored by the incredible support you showed on the wet and rainy Saturday with nearly 35,000 guests visiting the flight line. You can only imagine how we felt when the weather cleared and more than 75,000 guests from all over the country joined Team McConnell for Sunday’s show.
This air show was just a small token of our appreciation for your incredible support to our Airmen and their families.
This base is your base, and we’ll never forget that. We are able to accomplish our mission only because of the exceptional communities that surround us. Your Midwest hospitality was ever apparent this past weekend as together we delivered a world-class air show in the “Air Capital of the World.”
On behalf of Team McConnell and all of those that helped with the air show this weekend, Thank You!
Thank you for entrusting us with your sons and daughters that serve this great nation. Thank you for welcoming our Airmen and families into your communities with open arms. Thank you for supporting this base and our mission as we deliver combat air refueling around the world. Together We Are…A/R!
Col. Josh Olson, Commander, 22nd Air Refueling Wing, McConnell Air Force Base
A nuisance problem in need of attention
There is a problem that needs attention, not in just Kansas, but across the nation. It robs us of our quiet time, it crowds out the availability of others trying to reach us, plus it is just right down annoying.
If someone came banging on my door at all times of the day, I would call the police and let them handle the person at the door. We have ways to notify authorities at the state level but the intruders are so crafty they don’t even leave a valid number on my phone to report. Try calling back the number showing on Caller ID and you are told the number is not in service.
It also bothers me that sometimes I am probably being rude to well-meaning people who call, if I don’t recognize the number.
It seems to be a federal problem since the calls come from all over the country even though sometimes caller ID shows a local number.
Reporting this to our Congressmen and Senators seems to call on deaf ears. Guess they are busy going around drumming up votes but they won’t get mine if they don’t have the ability to take care of this nuisance problem.
Clyde Vasey, Winfield
Monument to stupidity
A $6 million monument to stupidity is how I would describe a walkway over the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita. How can anyone justify that exhorbitant expenditure for a scenic bridge from one side of the river to the other?
Spending $75 million on a new ball park stadium for a shrinking fan base is even more questionable.
If the market research (it has been done, hasn’t it ?) reveals a growing appetite for outdoor sports such as baseball; then, and only then, might we search for a private investor willing to build it.
I don’t believe that this is an amenity that will bring more people to Wichita willing to stay here because of baseball.
Bob Bayer, Wichita
This story was originally published September 16, 2018 at 1:11 PM.