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2018 Winston-Salem Air Show Is Canceled

A flight demonstration at the 2008 Winston-Salem air show. Photo: Flickr contributor Romel Jacinto for Creative Commons http://bit.ly/2F7tERn

This year's Winston-Salem Air Show has been canceled. Officials say this is primarily due to construction at Smith Reynolds Airport.

Airport director Mark Davidson says there are several reasons for canceling this year's air show, including finances and the need for more lead-in time to book performances.

But Davidson tells the Winston-Salem Journal that the main reason is construction work aimed at sprucing up the aging facilities.

Scott Piper is the chairman of the Airport Commission of Forsyth County. He says Smith Reynolds Airport is also facing financial challenges since losing its biggest tenant, North State Aviation, in 2017.

The Winston-Salem Air Show is usually scheduled in September, and can draw between 20,000 and 30,000 people over two days.

The airport has not held an air show since 2015 because of the construction demands.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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