Locals spread in front of Southwest Memorial Hospital Friday morning with eyes to the skies as two Colorado Air National Guard jets sped by on a flyover over Southwest Colorado.

Cortez was one stop on the National Guard’s flyover, which aimed to raise spirits and honor people working on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak. The F-16 Fighting Falcons flew over health care facilities in Cortez, Durango, Pagosa Springs, Montrose, Delta and other towns on the Western Slope.

About 100 cars showed up of the noon event in Cortez, bearing American flags and posters supporting health care workers.

Donna Fitzpatrick works with the nonprofit Community Connections, which supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and brought a client to the flyover. She’s had to explain the pandemic to her in bits and pieces, Fitzpatrick said.

“She goes to the Rec Center, and she goes to the library and she sees her adult friends,” Fitzpatrick said. “And all of a sudden I had to explain to her that she can’t do that.”

Friday might have been the first day in about two months that they left the house, and that too has required some explanation. Her client loves airplanes, and Fitzpatrick told her that while they have been well, a lot of people have been sick, and health care workers at the hospital have been working hard to keep the community healthy.

“At the same time that we were staying home, and we couldn’t go to the Rec Center, and we couldn’t go to the library, and we couldn’t walk in the park, all these people in all these cars outside of these two buildings have been working really, really, really hard to keep us healthy,” Fitzpatrick said.

Colleen Kobi brought her son to the flyover. They were excited to see the F-16 jets, she said, and had posted cardboard signs thanking health care workers on the outside of their car.

“We’re grateful,” Kobi said. “Grateful to be healthy and happy.”

ealvero@the-journal.com