New Carlisle names Lowell McLaughlin grand marshal; officials praise Heritage of Flight turnout and volunteer effort

The New Carlisle City Council honored Lowell McLaughlin as the 2025 Heritage of Flight Festival Grand Marshal and heard city staff and volunteers praise the festival’s turnout and logistics.

Mayor Bill Cook read a proclamation recognizing McLaughlin’s decades of local service and leadership and presented the honor on behalf of the council. "I, Bill Cook, mayor of the City of New Carlisle, on behalf of the city council and all of our citizens, do hereby honor Lowell McLaughlin for his lifetime of service and leadership," Cook said while reading the proclamation.

City Manager (Mr.) Hall and festival organizers described the event as one of the largest the city has hosted. Hall told the council that the festival briefly transformed the small town with tens of thousands of visitors and that he plans a "hot wash," a short post-event review, after staff and volunteers get some rest. Mr. Hall said the city will seek council involvement in that review.

Organizers estimated strong participation. An event volunteer identified as Jeremy said, "We're estimating over a thousand" cars on Friday night and referenced pedestrians coming into town that weekend; another speaker described overall pedestrian turnout reaching roughly 5,000 people. Committee members and vendors reported long lines at food venues and heavy traffic on Main Street.

Volunteers, civic groups and businesses were repeatedly credited. Roy Kegley, identified in council remarks as owner of Troy Did All Lumber, was singled out for coordinating the bike and jeep events. Council and staff noted participation by ROTC units, local churches and civic groups in both event staffing and post-event cleanup.

Members also highlighted the festival’s Mile of Food, a food-distribution and collection effort run with churches and nonprofits. City speakers said this year’s Mile of Food exceeded the organizers’ earlier distances and involved many volunteers and partner organizations.

Officials said the festival ran with few public incidents; police and fire personnel were praised for crowd management and a small unpublicized incident was resolved without widespread impact. City staff said the Heritage of Flight committee and public safety personnel coordinated closely on staging and crowd control.

Council members and staff tied some near-term city work to festival operations and broader growth. Staff reported a near-term water-line project on Church Street — described as the final stretch of a multi-phase water upgrade — will start within weeks and is expected to take "about 6 to 8 weeks." That work is intended to complete a full water extension from Jefferson to Domino’s (as described at the meeting) before the city schedules further road or gas-line projects in that corridor.

The mayor and staff thanked hundreds of volunteers and multiple city departments; council members encouraged building on this year’s event for future growth.

Attendance figures, volunteer counts and many operational details were provided in council remarks and by festival organizers; a formal post-event summary was not yet available at the meeting.