The California Air National Guard‘s Fresno-based 144th Fighter Wing will again usher in a Fresno State football season with a flyover salute prior to kickoff of the Saturday, Sept. 4, game between Fresno State and Cincinnati.
Pilots flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft over Bulldog Stadium are California State University, Fresno alumni.
The flyover, set for about 6:55 p.m., will salute POW/MIA Day which is observed nationally on Sept. 17. Congress has set aside the third Friday of each September to recognize service personnel who were prisoners of war or missing in action and the families of those men and women.
The pilots and Col. Gary Taylor, the 144th Wing’s commander and a Fresno State alumnus, will be honored in the third quarter as will other members of the 144th attending the game.
At Saturday’s game, the first of seven home games in the university’s 100th year, Fresno State ice cream will be sold for the first time. Half-pint cups of student-produced vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and rocky road ice cream will be available at concession stands.
With the weather forecast to hover around the century mark, cooling stations will be available in the northwest and northeast corners of Bulldog Stadium.
All game day parking lots open at 3 p.m. and gates to the stadium open at 5:30.
Coach Sue Behme and members of the Fresno State lacrosse team will demonstrate lacrosse skills and meet fans from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on the new lacrosse field, northeast of the stadium.
Again this year, there will be free bus shuttle service from campus and Save Mart Center parking lots. Bus shuttles start at 5 p.m.
Director Tim Anderson and the Bulldog Marching Band plan a special Centennial music halftime show, starting with the No. 1 hit from 1911, 1961 and 2010.
Bulldog Boulevard, which is north of Beiden Field in the Red Lot, will once again emphasize family-friendly pregame activities. The Bulldog Marching Band will make an appearance at 5:30 p.m.
The Bulldog Shop is open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday to sell Bulldog apparel. Fresno State merchandise also is sold at Bulldog Boulevard and in stadium kiosks.
