Update: Richland seniors raising the cash for historic B-17 flyover at graduation
UPDATE: A group of Richland High School students as of Tuesday are closer to their goal of $11,000 to get a WWII bomber to fly over their graduation. They now are just $1,500 away.
The Richland Bombers 2021 senior class is spearheading a fundraiser called “Give an hour’s pay and send a bomber their way.” They hope to have a rare B-17 Flying Fortress soar above the June 12 graduation at Fran Rish Stadium.
The effort, led by Senior Class President Hanna Christensen, aims to provide a special memory for seniors who lost out on other special events because of the COVID pandemic restrictions.
“Everybody has talked about how senior year is the best year of school,” she told the Herald. “What can I do to make these three months memorable? What is the most important day, and what would have the greatest impact? That is graduation.”
The idea grew from a discussion with a teacher last fall who told her that a B-17 had flown over a graduation 30 years ago.
The teacher thought it wasn’t likely to happen again since there are so few B-17’s still able to fly.
But Christensen decided to give it a shot. She began by calling airports around the area.
Between hearing stories about The Day’s Pay bomber and seeing the mural painted at the school in 1993, Richland High students would appreciate the historical connection, she said.
The Day’s Pay was the result of an effort by thousands of Hanford workers during World War II to donate a day’s wages for a B-17 Flying Fortress. The plane flew 69 missions over Germany.
With its ties to the Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb, Richland High changed the name of its team from the Beavers to the Bombers in 1944. The school’s logo is a mushroom cloud.
Christensen found a pilot and one of the 10 functioning B-17 flying fortresses in Madras, Ore., and began negotiating a price. They settled on $11,000.
Fundraising was delayed while she worked to get the plan approved by the school district. And it wasn’t until a few weeks ago she was able to get the final approval to start collecting donations.
The effort has been met with enthusiasm from other graduating seniors and the community.
One commenter on social media said they donated to the fundraiser for the Day’s Pay mural in the ‘90s and are happy to donate to this.
“With the difficult times that this past year has brought, not only for our students, but for our community as well, we as a senior class want to bring something unforgettable,” according to information on the fundraiser posted on a Richland School District website.
As of Tuesday morning, the enthusiasm had added up to $9,500. The teens are on a tight timeline. They need to raise the rest by Sunday.
Donations can be made at tinyurl.com/hourspay.
This story was originally published May 25, 2021 at 5:00 AM.