Thirty-one years ago, Starflight was first introduced to the Chautauqua County area.

Meanwhile, the Jamestown Harmony Express from Jamestown soothed the dining hall inside the Chautauqua Suites in Mayville as they sang until the guest speakers took the stage.

According to Howard Howlett Jr., chairperson of the Starflight Board of Directors, the proceeds of the annual fundraiser are very much a necessity. Howlett spoke of the expenses that come with Starflight.

“Well, Starflight is a very expensive program,” Howlett said. “It’s a great asset for the county and it’s very expensive.”

A Starflight helicopter on display Saturday.

According to Howlett, each helicopter that Starflight uses is even more costly to maintain than a 747 airplane. “So, we need money, constantly, for repairs,” he said. “Sometime, we’d like to buy a new one but unfortunately the price has gone up $2 million dollars to replace one of those.

“So, that’s why it’s important to have [fundraisers],” Howlett added.

Though the goal of the night was a serious one, Howlett said he was also there to “have a good time.”

In attendance, were state Assemblyman Andy Goodell and Jacqueline Phelps, regional director to U.S. Rep. Tom Reed. Both spoke at the fundraiser and praised the continuation of Starflight for over 31 years.

“The reason, though, that all of us are here is because we recognize that Starflight provides a lifesaving opportunity for all of us and none of us know when we might need it,” Goodell said. “We don’t start out in the morning saying, ‘this would be a great day for a serious accident, or a heart attack or a stroke.’ We don’t know when we need it but we certainly, certainly hope that it is available for us when we need it.

Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph Gerace addresses the crowd at the annual fundraiser.

“But even more importantly we want to make sure that Starflight is available for our loved ones: our spouse, our children and our friends,” Goodell added.

Goodell then told a story of how he was affected by Starflight. According to him, he got a call from one of his friends when they experienced a heart attack.

“His life depended on this program and I was so pleased to know that we had top quality mechanics that were making sure the machines were in top shape, we had top quality pilots that could fly through incredible weather and we had top quality medical personnel that were saving my friend’s life,” Goodell said.

Phelps took the stage and immediately recognized the difficult job that Starflight is tasked with.

“We have people in our community everyday who, God bless them for the work that they do, because you do, you save people’s lives every single time you take a trip in that helicopter,” she said.

Last year, Starflight completed 400 successful missions and more than 8,000 missions since its origin in 1986.

Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph Gerace was also in attendance. Gerace said the reason for bringing a medevac to Chautauqua County was because of the lack of a trauma center within the area. Inspired by the installation of medevac by helicopter in the Vietnam and Korean War, the idea was brought to Chautauqua County.

Gerace looked back to when the idea of bringing a helicopter was first being thrown around. “In fact, the headlines of The Post-Journal read, ‘Does Chautauqua County Need A Helicopter?,'” Gerace said. “Eight thousands flights later, medical emergency flights, I guess the answer is there.”