Up, Up and Away — Girls in Aviation Day at Concord’s Buchanan Field
CONCORD, CA (Sept. 25, 2023) — A full day of activities at Buchanan Field on Saturday, Sept. 23, marked the first Girls in Aviation Day (GIAD). The event introduced 60 young ladies to different career paths in aviation.
Organizers also shared knowledge about multiple facets of aeronautics and offered hands experiences. Women in Aviation International San Francisco – Bay Area Chapter co-hosted the event with the Mount Diablo Pilots Association.
Ariana Cevallos, 13, of Pleasant Hill, tried her hand on a flight simulator. “It was easier than I thought,” she said. “The day was a blast.”
The event culminated with participants getting inside small airplanes to learn from the pilots themselves. They also got to climb aboard to see the interior of a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter that arrived from its station at San Francisco International Airport.
Proclamations marking the 9th Annual International Girls in Aviation Day also were presented to event organizers by Mayor Laura Hoffmeister on behalf of the Concord City Council and Ken Carlson and Diane Burgis, who are co-chair of the county airport committee, on behalf of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors.
Hoffmeister also used the event spotlight the many women throughout history who have achieved notable accomplishments as pilots. In doing so, she noted the many other career needs in aviation and space that are available for girls to consider and pursue. Photos by David Scholz
David Scholz
David Scholz is back in journalism as a freelance writer and photographer after nearly two decades in education. Prior to moving into teaching in 2000, he worked as a full-time journalist since 1988 for rural community and small daily newspapers in Central Ohio and Northern Nevada, and later in California with The Business Journal in Fresno and dailies in the Bay Area, including The Oakland Tribune and The San Francisco Chronicle. More recently Scholz also worked in an editing, writing, and page layout role with the Rossmoor News.