Recently, Special Services Corporation had the privilege of hosting a group of special needs children for a visit to the Greenville Downtown Airport.  These children attend Hidden Treasure Christian School, a ministry founded in 1981 to work with children with physical, mental and developmental learning disabilities.  Steve Wiley of Special Services was able to host the tour of the airport.  The tour included a visit to Special Services Corporation, where the children were able to climb aboard one of the Citation jet airplanes and also one of the Cirrus SR22’s.

After visiting Special Services, they continued their tour of the airport with a visit to Mint Air, a local sales and instruction company that deal mainly with the new lights sport aircraft.  The tour of the airport wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the control tower.  There the children were able to watch airplanes takeoff and land while the controllers did their job.

The final adventure the children had is when one of the students parents landed in a Cessna 182 and came up to meet them in the tower.  But, that wasn’t the end of it, the pilot, John Leupp, then was able to give each of the children a ride in airplane around the local Greenville area.

This was the first year these students had been to the Greenville Downtown Airport (KGMU).  In the past, this tour was done at the nearby international airport.  This year, the children were not allowed to tour the other airport due to new security procedures.  This is what makes the smaller, local, downtown airports such a vital part of the general aviation community.

If you would like further information on the ministry of Hidden Treasure Christian School, you can visit their website at www.hiddentreasure.org or call 864-322-0700.

If you are interested in finding out more information about the Greenville Downtown Airport, you can visit their website at www.greenvilledowntownairport.com.