JOHN DAY – Twelve-year-old Dale Smucker had a look of glee on his face as he ran across the John Day Airport tarmack to tell his family about his fun airplane ride.

Many other children and several adults, too, had the opportunity to take to the sky at the Grant County Air Search Fly In Breakfast at Ogilvie Field Sept. 6.

For Dale, taking off in the plane was the best part.

“The houses looked like toys, he said.

Julianna, Dale’s younger sister, also had a ride, and their mom, Sandra, said their family enjoys attending the event every year.

On hand were four Air Search pilots, Bob Bagett, Gary Judd, Barbara Smith and Don David, sharing their time and talents with the eager riders.

Smith shared some details about her plane with her passengers, for example, each wing of the airplane holds 25 gallons of fuel. She let riders choose which direction to fly and pointed out various spots not easily seen from the ground level.

Some flyers, waiting for their turn to come up, enjoyed a hearty breakfast provided by Shcarol’s Catering of Fox for a reasonable cost. Others at the breakfast tables seemed to be at the airfield just for the delicious pancakes, ham, eggs and fruit.

Other activities throughout the day included Tom Berry’s flour drop (hitting a bag of flour on a target), Ron Lundbom’s candy drop and U.S. Forest Service workers demonstrating rappelling and a retardant drop. Dave Traylor also passed over the crowd in his power parachute with an American flag.

Cheryl Berry, treasurer for the Air Search team, said their purpose in holding the event is “to give the youth of Grant County the opportunity to fly in an airplane.”