The community is invited for a day full of fun at Florida Keys Marathon International Airport, Oct. 20 to celebrate 75 years of its history.
T.J. Henderson, assistant director of airports, said he expects people from around the country to attend the party, which starts at 9 a.m. and lasts all day with more than 30 historical aircraft on display.
There will also be an antique car show, petting zoo featuring animals from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Animal Farm, music, Body Language Studio dance routines and music by Blue Water Prime Time.
“This is going to be a great event for aviation enthusiasts, but really just a fun event for anyone in the community,” Henderson said. “We’re really honoring the history of the airport because there’sa lot of aviation history in the Keys. There’s a lot going back to the World War II era in Marathon too.”
The Marathon Airport opened in 1943 as a U.S. Navy auxiliary airfield for Naval Air Station Key West. It was deactivated as a military facility at the end of World War II and transferred to the county for use as a civilian airport.
Henderson suggests a visit to the EAA Museum on Oct. 20, which is open every day to the public.
“There’s a lot of great information that’s on display there, and we’re going to have a nice presentation in their hangar that will loop throughout the day showing the history of the air field, pictures of different eras and how the airport evolved from being a Navy air field to being a publicly owned civilian air field,” he said.
The celebration will be held on the Marathon General Aviation ramp at 9850 Overseas Highway in Marathon. Event parking is at the main terminal parking lot (with golf cart shuttles to the celebration) and along the airport access road. Admission is free.
