Mason City, Iowa city of Mason City, it does serve other communities in the Mason City micropolitan statistical area. The Iowa Northern has facilities in Manly, Iowa. The city also has a municipal airport, Mason City Municipal Airport, (MCW) with commercial service by Air Choice One. It is the airport from which Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper took off on the night of February 2, 1959, after a concert at the Surf Ballroom in nearby Clear Lake, Iowa, only to crash their plane in a historic event later referred to as the Day the Music Died. Mason City, Iowa, and
Don McLean California's Stagecoach Country Music Festival. In May 2015, McLean undertook his 20th nationwide tour of the UK and Ireland. In 1991, McLean returned to the UK top 20 with a re-issue of "American Pie". Iona College conferred an honorary doctorate on him in 2001. In February 2002, "American Pie" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, McLean was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Garth Brooks presented the award and said, "Don McLean: his work, like the man himself, is very deep and very compassionate. His pop anthem 'American Pie' is a cultural phenomenon". Two years