Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets the position of lead singer with the group in 1961. He would remain through early 1965. Tommy Allsup, the guitarist who had toured with Holly during the fateful Winter Dance Party frequently played with the band. Singing star and Liberty records artist Bobby Vee had a number of connections with Holly and the Crickets. After Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper were killed in the tragic February 1959 plane crash, Fargo, North Dakota teenager Bobby Vee was among several local young musicians recruited to join the rest of the Winter Dance Party tour, beginning with the next scheduled
Mason City Municipal Airport resolution to create a new airport and purchased 312 acres several miles west of the city. The new Mason City Municipal Airport saw its first official landing a few years later on March 29, 1945. The airport consisted of two paved runways, associated taxiways, and a small ramp area. A remodeled farmhouse was used as the first commercial terminal during the airport dedication on June 22, 1946. Musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, along with pilot Roger Peterson, died in a plane crash after taking off from the Mason City Municipal Airport in the early