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TBM Avengers to assemble in Peru for annual reunion · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: TBM Avengers to assemble in Peru for annual reunion. Written
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  by Tom Collins, This article is being read by an
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  automated voice brought to you by Everlett pop Quiz after December.
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  What month in twenty twenty five brought in the most
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  retail sales for the city of Peru. Take a bow
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  if you answered May. The TBM Avengers have in recent
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  years provided a nice boost for Peru's city coffers during
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  the merry month of May. The eleventh annual TBM Avenger
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  Reunion and Salute to Veterans will be May fifteenth and
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  sixteen at the Illinois Valley Regional Airport. Weather will have
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  considerable sway over attendance, but alderman Jim Lucosis said Wednesday
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  that the city anticipates a fifteen percent increase in attendance
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  during the two day event. Last year's Avengers show attracted
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  and estimated fifteen thousand to seventeen thousand visitors during two days,
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  and this year's per is about twenty thousand visitors. Lukosis
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  said that retailers, rest hour tours, and hoteliers have expressed
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  excitement about the flock coming in. Somewhat less certain is
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  how many TBM avengers will fly in. We've gotten very
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  good responses, Lukosis said. Between twelve and fourteen owners said
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  they were planning to come. If we get ten, we'd
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  be real happy. Some of these eighty year old aircraft
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  don't make it all the way to Peru. Peru Mayor
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  Ken Kolowski said he's hoping for a double digit response
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  and good weather because the event is mushrooming in popularity,
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  and because the city is always eager to honor the
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  men and women who served. Kolowski said the TBM show
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  also boosts the city's retail revenue. May is a historically
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  strong retail month because residents by flowers, patio furniture, and
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  supplies for home improvement projects once the weather turns nice.
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  But do the tbm's help, absolutely, Kolowski said, adding that
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  tourist visit from across the nation. There's an up town
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  in hotels, restaurants and amenities. It's great. Tourism is a
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  big part of everything. That certainly was the case in
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  twenty twenty five. The city's May retail share was the
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  same month record seven hundred and twenty three thousand dollars,
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  en route to a yearly record eight point four million dollars.
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  That's the city's share, only the city's total sales volume
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  is much higher. Only at the holidays did the city
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  have a bigger sales month in twenty twenty five. That
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  pattern largely has held since the pandemic. Ended retail sales
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  in May jumped thirty eight percent once COVID nineteen restrictions
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  were lifted between twenty twenty and twenty twenty one. Line
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  item revenue data isn't available to show how much the
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  TBM Avengers contribute, but Kolowski said that the event is
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  a money maker and a big draw. Peru Police Chief
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  Sarah Raymond said parking will be free. Officers will be
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  on hand to direct motorists into parking spaces on the grass.
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  Handicapped accessible parking will be at the far north entrance
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  on Plank Road, which is the main entrance to the airport.
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  Smoking is strictly prohibited as the presence of fumes and
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  oil precludes any sort of open flame. Visitors are to
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  stay in designated areas, not touch any aircraft, and abide
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  by all instructions issued by police and event volunteers.