The “Wings Over Wiscasset” event August 6 can pull in tourists on their way up the coast; local businesses can give them a reason to linger, a speaker told area businesspeople June 13.

“... The table has been laid for you, and now here's your chance to come and steal all the sandwiches,” said Dan Bookham, former head of the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Bookham spoke in an early evening breeze at Wiscasset Muncipal Airport, to a crowd of merchants and leaders of area chambers of commerce.

“It says, 'Come spend your time. Come fall in love with us,'” Bookham said about this summer's event.

He and other speakers at the Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce’s “Business After Hours” gathering encouraged businesspeople to help sponsor the “Wings” event.

It will feature music, fireworks, World War II airplanes, fundraising for nonprofits, and education on topics from human trafficking in Maine to women's service in World War II.

Admission is free. For more information, go online to www.wingsoverwiscasset.org.

The plan to hold “Wings Over Wiscasset” on a weekday will give children a chance to attend through their camp programs, like those of the Boothbay Region YMCA and Wiscasset's recreation department, the event's producer Dennis St. Pierre said. (August 6 falls on a Tuesday; the rain date is Wednesday, August 7.)

Children affected by the recent Lewiston apartment house fires will be brought in by bus to attend the event, St. Pierre said.

St. Pierre treated last week's crowd to a preview of oldies he plans to sing with the nonprofit music company “Music Doing Good” at the August event. He did not have Wiscasset Town Manager Laurie Smith's request, “Single Ladies,” in his repertoire.

A representative for U.S. Sen. Angus King, (I-Maine), was also on hand. Gail Kezer said she was there to learn more about the local economy, to aid in King's job creation efforts.

The town-owned airport where last week’s gathering took place is in the black now that the town manages it and reaps the profits, airport manager Ervin Deck said. The town received little of the revenue under a prior set up with management carried out by a fixed-based-operator, he said.

With the condition the terminal building was in a few years ago, he wouldn't have wanted to hold such a gathering, he said.  “I'd have been embarrassed. It looked like a prison,” Deck said.

It has had a makeover, with a new ceiling, floors, carpeting, lighting and bathroom and drywall over the cinder block walls.

“It's just kind of been made into a nice little showplace,” Deck said. Part of his marketing plan is to show taxpayers the asset they have in the airport, as an extension of the transportation system. “We've got a lot of planes coming in here, a lot of business,” he said.

One Westchester, N.Y., couple flew into Wiscasset last summer just because the wife wanted a lobster roll, Deck said.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.