Fun times on the fly

POLSON — Wings for Wishes(WFW) held its annual Fun Fly this weekend off of 93 and Minesinger Trail. The event raises money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Montana. The organization provides children facing life-threatening medical conditions with the opportunity to make one of their wishes come true.

WFW was created by Erik Kendall of Ronan in 2011 after a family friend’s son, Dylan Levy, was diagnosed with biliary articulitis. Dylan’s life consisted of doctor visits and surgeries Kendall said.

“The Make-A-Wish Foundation let him just be a kid and play in the snow,” Kendall said, the Make-A-Wish Foundation raised enough money to send Dylan and his family to the Ritz Carlton resort to build snowmen, dogsled and the even learn to skate.This made Kendall want to help other children in similar situations and in 2011 he organized the first Fun Fly in Polson.

For the second Wings for Wishes event there were model planes and helicopters of all shapes and sizes. The most experienced pilots attract great admiration from their colleagues as well as the public. A “star helicopter pilot,” Ned Carbonari of Kalispell, demonstrated his skills trimming an alfalfa field by way of his helicopter propellers. This maneuver was delicately orchestrated by flipping the helicopter over and hovering upside-down.

“He’s the one we all aspire to be like,” Mark Vert of Polson remarked. Money for the foundation is raised from a landing fee as well as from the silent auction with signed t-shirts from the casts of Sons of Guns and Deadliest Catch television programs, as well as donations made from local businesses.

“We already exceeded the amount raised last year.” Kendall said, “we will definitely continue to hold the event in the future.”

Although the event is for a good cause it was also a lot of fun for the participents.

“We are just a bunch of 40-year-old kids, grown men with toys,” Vert said.

For more information or to sign up for the event next year please visit: http://wingsforwishes-mt.com/