ST. LANDRY PARISH — The annual Rockin' On The Runway (ROTR) fundraising event is happening June 8th, 2024.
It has received quite a bit of attention after people across Acadiana noticed different designs in the sky. "So you've probably been seeing us on top of Lafayette been putting up a lot of hearts, smiles and ROTR for Rockin' on the Runway," said Nathan Hammond, Pilot and Owner of Ghostwriter airshow. Nathan is one of the pilots residents have seen flying across Acadiana. Several aircraft will take to the sky for an aerobatic airshow, there will also be live music by Nik-L Beer, a car show, and you can even take flight in a war bird airplane.
All funds raised will go to St. Mary's Residential Training School in Alexandria. It houses children and young adults with developmental disabilities. Elliot said more that 50 percent of the residents are from right here in Acadiana including her brother-in-law Cole Elliott who has lived there for 19 years. "It is home to these 200 residents, so they live there full-time. They do lots of programs with them like job training programs. They also have the ABA services for their autistic residents. My brother-in-law has autism. They really just provide them with a lot of great life skills and they're kind of the closest facility so the families have that comfort knowing they're taken care of," said Taylor Elliott, Operations Manager.
Her family's goal is to raise enough money to create a community environment for residents at the facility. "So far we have raised $480,000 which is incredible. The money is going towards a multi-use facility on the campus. Currently, the group homes were built on one side of the campus and it's a sprawling campus so they need one place for everyone to go, to hang out, to have dance classes, art classes, so it's really a multi-use facility, a community space for the residents," said Elliott.
If you're looking to see more fun in the sky, Elliott said Rockin' on the Runway is the place to be in Sunset. "Our headliner, Ghostwriter, which a lot of them saw flying around yesterday. He will be here doing his skywriting, but he'll also do a pyro show off of his wings which is very cool," said Elliott.
Rockin’ On The Runway is scheduled to take place at a private airstrip and airplane hangar in Sunset on June 8th from 4:00-10:30 pm. The event is open to the public. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.rotr-la.com.
