There must be great joy in Liberalville-by-the-Bay today.
Fleet Week sans Blue Angels?Navy leaves S.F. off 2004 schedule
The Navy Blue Angels precision flying team announced its schedule for 2004 Thursday -- and San Francisco's huge Fleet Week celebration is not on it.
The daring flights of the six F/A-18 Hornet jets have been the centerpiece of the city's Fleet Week event for more than 20 years, and without the Blue Angels, the whole event could be in difficulty.
[A cheer rises from Bezerkley]
Fleet Week and the Blue Angels have drawn wall-to-wall crowds to San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf and brought in millions of dollars in extra revenue to merchants who had been suffering in the last two years from a big drop in tourism. "We will do everything in our power, including dealing with the city's leadership, to see that the event is not canceled," said Al Baccari, executive director of the Fisherman's Wharf Association.
Even without the Angels, he said, he wanted the Fleet Week events, which include a parade of ships and visits from Navy and Coast Guard crews, to go on as scheduled. "It's part of our history," Baccari said, "Part of the city's past as a Navy town."
While Fleet Week and the Angels have been a popular success, the blue warplanes flying over the city every fall have produced hundreds of complaints from citizens concerned about the noise and safety issues.
While no Blue Angels planes have crashed in the Bay Area, there have been some fatal accidents in other parts of the country.
Many opponents have been vocal in denouncing the acrobatics, the whoosh of the planes and what appears to be dangerous flying.
"It's disgusting, unbearable, amazing noise," Evelyn Vedro said in 2000. "It scares you to death."
Vedro, who lives near the flight path, was not available for comment on the possible demise of the stunt flights next year.
Fleet Week in San Francisco dates back to the entrance of the Navy's Great White Fleet into the bay in 1908, an event seen by thousands of people. The Pacific Fleet made regular ceremonial calls in the bay every year until World War II.
Fleet Week was revived in 1981 by then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein, who went up for a ride with the Blue Angels and was reportedly badly frightened by the experience. However, she remained a firm defender of the event and it has become an enormous popular and commercial success.
The Navy joins Chris Columbus on the official unwelcome list, Christ and Cirque du Soleil soon to follow.
Deep in the grip of Liberal social engineers, PC censors and America haters, San Francisco seems determined to remake itself into a second rate city.
Posted by feste at December 12, 2003 09:40 AM | TrackBackClearly, you are mistaken when you identify the class of people gripping The City. As you may recall, when singer Moby visited years ago, he said such wonderful things as "I'd forgotten there were places this dangerous in America," and, "I was genuinely afraid." Then-Mayor Willie Brown's response was essentially that Moby must be delusional because SFO is a Fine, Fine Place.
Also, during Gulf War II, during an anti-war protest (possibly one of those stupid lay-down-in-traffic-and-tempt-drivers'-consciences protests), veteran local broadcaster Pete Wilson segued to the footage with, "And once again, San Francisco manages to make everything about itself..."
I don't think that you accurately express how isolationist and self-centered they are.
Posted by: keiki at December 12, 2003 09:33 PMThank you for clearing up any ambiguity.
Posted by: feste at December 12, 2003 09:49 PM
Up here in my hometown, Prescott, AZ,
we poke fun at our city because we chew
terbacky, drive pickups, and call our
wimmin "darlin.'" But it's all in fun.
I sense that San Francisco has crossed
the line from quaint ... to dangerously
disturbed.
I fled Pasadena, CA, when this happened
on a much smaller scale.
When are you leaving town, Feste? I can't
really believe you want to be the last
one out, and have to turn off the lights.
:)
-
-
Mebbe next year...we're workin' on it.
Posted by: feste at December 13, 2003 11:00 AMI am disgusted by some of the comments posted here. San Francisco is...was...a great town but rampant, narrow minded zealotry masquerading as "political correctness" has poisoned its unique and once acceptingly tolerant culture.
It's interesting to note that the so-called hundreds of calls regarding noise and safety issues are never contrasted against the 500,000 estimated air show fans that flock to Marina Green, Municipal Pier and Fisherman's Wharf to watch the event. Once again, the views of a small, vocal, narrow minded minority are put ahead of that of the the many.
Fleet Week is a celebration of our country's military and of the history of the city as a Naval town. Air Shows such as this one are also a platform for the appreciation of the sacrifices made by the men and women of our armed forces. The list of cities that get the Blue Angels every year for such an event is very, very short and SF has been most privileged to have been on it for so long.
Those of you who don't appreciate this don't deserve an event like this in your city anyway so maybe it's for the best.
Posted by: Randall Stevens at December 15, 2003 05:10 PMOne more thing...the event had an estimated economic impact of approximately $36 million in 2002. The city you take for granted will not continue to exist in its current form without an influx of capital from tourism, and this was a big part of that. Why else would the merchant's association be so adamant about wanting it to continue? They lost millions after 9/11 when FW was canceled.
How is a city such as SF supposed to survive without large scale events such as this to help its economy?
Unless those of you who don't support the "war mongers" can come up with something that will have the same economic benefit?
I know...perhaps you ladies can hold a city wide leg hair braiding contest? Maybe you pot smoking hippies can donate part of the proceeds every time you move a lid? How about a granola eating contest? Or maybe you can have a Birkenstock walk for charity?
Not meaning to sound bitter, but DAMN!
Posted by: Randall Stevens at December 15, 2003 05:23 PMRandall, I think you misread the intent of the posting and our comments...or I misunderstood yours. *G*
Keiki was tongue-in-cheek reinforcing my posting, Jaspar also a native Californian got so fed up he left for friendlier climes.
I HATE what has happened to California and SF in particular...I'm a native and remember when SF was a shining city on the hills...not the cess pool it has become.
I doubt the decline can or will be reversed...we'll see if Newsom can get a handle on the street people. The Lefties have Seattle in the same PC stranglehold.
Posted by: feste at December 15, 2003 07:02 PMMy bad...I understood perfectly what you were saying, and was not responding to it directly, the article itself is what pissed me off.
Posted by: Randall Stevens at December 15, 2003 10:24 PMI was one of the organizers of Fleet Week 2002 and dealt with many factions within the city. My favorite anecdote was when my cell phone went off and a Marina Green resident (who somehow managed to get my number) asked me if all of our semi trucks could be moved so she could have an unobstructed view of the Parade of Ships. I told her to call the Mayor's office and ask him.
Posted by: Randall Stevens at December 15, 2003 10:27 PM