It takes a lot of work to pull together a party, especially one with 15,000 guests.

The Centennial of Naval Aviation event held at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island will definitely go down in the books as a success — it was well-attended, there were lots of different things to see and do and there were interesting stories to be heard.

But I have some unanswered questions:

Why is there never enough time (and I was there most of the day) to get to everything? I never had a chance to listen to the Tales of Naval Aviation. I made it to the hangar, but I got there between speakers. By the time I’d made the rounds, it was near the end of author Stephen Coonts’ presentation.

I also never got to see the Flying Gizmos. That was a bummer. Who doesn’t love whirly-gigs and doo-dads? I did get to see the King Cobra and the armadillos and a few other creatures presented by Predators of the Heart, so it wasn’t a total loss. I can see why the Kids Zone was full. If I was a few (okay, several) years younger, I might have given the rock wall a go.

I know one of the vendors selling curly fries brought 2,000 pounds of potatoes to the Centennial, but I never got to find out if they went through all of them. How many potatoes can 15,000 people eat? Is 2,000 pounds of potatoes a lot or a little for an all-day event? I have no idea.

So, while I didn’t get to everything, I did spend a lot of time looking at the aircraft. After all, the event was celebrating 100 years of naval flight. It made sense to me to look at the planes. I have to admit, they were pretty cool.

Yep. It was a good day. It only leaves one question — who’s planning the bi-centennial party and how many pounds of potatoes should we bring?

-Kathy Reed, editor