Who says turkeys can't fly? Dozens of them flew into Cascade Locks Wednesday morning. Of course they were frozen turkeys and they were aboard airplanes
It was all thanks to a group of regional pilots who wanted to bring the residents of Cascade Locks a little Thanksgiving joy.
Three small airplanes made a special stop at the Cascade Locks airstrip just before noon to drop off boxes loaded with not only Thanksgiving turkeys, but all the fixings as well.
"It's just giving back, that's what it is. That's what it’s all about,” said pilot Dennis Kozacek. “It's that time of year and we just couldn't turn it down.”
There were supposed to be 25 planes making the drop-off, but the rainy weather kept most of them grounded.
Those pilots that couldn't fly the meals in drove them in instead.
Altogether, the pilots brought 150 meals to the community which is still struggling after the Eagle Creek Fire.
The fire forced many residents to evacuate for weeks, some of them unable to work during that time.
"We were so afraid they were going to forget once the fire was out, but they're not forgetting, the communities are all standing behind us," said Martha Lamont with the FISH Food Bank of Hood River County.
The food was donated by a group out of Gig Harbor, Washington, called the Basket Brigade. Area pilot associations coordinated to get it down to Cascade Locks.
They said their mission was two-fold: Not only was it to deliver the Thanksgiving meals, but they also used it as a training exercise. They say in the event of say a landslide, or other disaster that closes I-84, they now know they can fly in food and emergency supplies, if necessary.