News Room

California Capital Airshow Rewards Youth That Dream Big

From teaching a little girl to fly to awarding scholarships to youth with aviation dreams, the Airshow is honored to give back to its community

Sacramento, CA – June 25, 2010 – As part of its community relations efforts and overall mission, the California Capital Airshow (CCA) recently fulfilled dreams of several aspiring young aviators throughout the Sacramento region. Yesterday, CCA along with several sponsors fulfilled the dream of 15-year old Carmichael resident, Angela Evans, of one day becoming a pilot. For a majority of her childhood, Angela has been battling illnesses and required to spend a considerable amount of time in the UC Davis Children’s Hospital. Recently diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, in addition to other life threatening illnesses, Angela aspires to be behind the controls of an airplane as pilot-in-command.

“This was truly a joint effort where our community partners came together to make a little girl’s dream come true. To see the sheer excitement on Angela’s face when she stepped out of the plane having never flown in her life was truly moving,” said Darcy Brewer, executive director of the California Capital Airshow. “The Airshow is honored to have the opportunity to show not only Angela, but the community-at-large that wishes really do come true. Our hope is that Angela’s story inspires children of all ages to dream big.”

Additionally, the Airshow recently awarded scholarships to seven college-aged students from the Sacramento region to help assist in their pursuit of aviation, aerospace, aeronautics or related careers. The 2010 scholarship recipients are: Blake Andrus, Peter Blomquist, Jake Daum, Michael McKone, Ana Mendivil, Victor Rice, Da Hyun Shim. Each recipient identified a true passion and timeline for achieving their career goal.

“Many people already know how to fly and are experts at it; I don’t want to be just another pilot, I want to contribute to the industry, give them something they didn’t have before, leave a mark and know that I gave back to the business that inspired so much passion in me,” said Ana Mendivil, future aviation manager.

“Over the past four years, we have awarded more than 65 scholarships to deserving students from our region,” added Brewer. “The California Capital Airshow strives to honor our past while inspiring our future leaders to do great things; with the help of local organizations such as the GenCorp Foundation, our scholarship program helps each of these winners do exactly that.”

To download high resolution photos from Angela’s flight visit http://www.markeloper.com/aviation/angela.html. Other high resolution Airshow photos are available online at http://californiacapitalairshow.com/press/.

Tickets to the 2010 California Capital Airshow at Mather Airport are now available online and can be easily purchased at the Airshow web site, http://www.californiacapitalairshow.com/buytickets.php or at all SAFE Credit Union branch locations.

The California Capital Airshow web site will be updated regularly with news, attraction information and more. Community members and attendees can also follow the Airshow on Facebook and Twitter (#calcapairshow). To request press credentials for the event go to http://www.californiacapitalairshow.com/getinfo/media.php.

About California Capital Airshow Established in 2004, the California Capital Airshow has become one of the largest and highly- respected shows in the nation. As part of its community relations, the non-profit organization has awarded over 65 scholarships to deserving students from our region with an interest in aviation, aerospace, aeronautics and related fields. For more information about the California Capital Airshow, please visit www.californiacapitalairshow.com.