Unintended Consequences

I’m still stunned that Springfield’s Air Rendezvous just folded with barely a whimper. I also don’t remember seeing, before this Illinois Times article, that the impending departure of the 183rd played a big role in the decision to permanently cancel the event:

The coming departure of 183rd Fighter Wing aircraft and personnel from the airport was a factor in what many enthusiasts consider the air show’s premature demise.

“It weighed heavily on the organizers’ decision to close the show,” [AR organizer Kim] Curry says.

I made a big deal here about opposing the moving of the 183rd’s planes back in 2005, and I even questioned whether the move would affect AR. I guess I have my answer.

Maybe I'm out of line here and blaming the wrong people, but does it seem to anyone else that the organiser's just gave up a little too easily? It seems to me that there was a base of support for the event in the community that could have been appealed to before throwing in the towel so quickly. I never did anything like volunteer to help at AR in all the years it (and I) were here, but I had no idea it was in trouble either.