To residents of Kalamazoo, the above picture is quite familiar; a docent at the Air Zoo conducting a tour for school children, beginning, of course, with the iconic walk down the Cloud Tunnel. But it turns out, this picture isn't a picture at all. It's a still I took from a trailer for a new holiday film written by a Kalamazoo man who now calls Battle Creek home. The movie is A Christmas Heroand according to IMDB, the story of A Christmas Hero:

When a young disillusioned war vet, home from Afghanistan, sees nothing good in his life during Christmas a visit by his guardian angel shows him that his life really did make a difference.

Now just to be clear, the Air Zoo isn't in one two-minute scene that barely shows the nose of an airplane. No, the Air Zoo may as well get top billing! And it's not just a familiar Kalamazoo place that is featured, several Kalamazoo faces, including real life employees and volunteers at Air Zoo were part of the shoot.

Writer Phil Wurtzel is no stranger to using locales in Southwest Michigan to set the scene for his stories. In previous films Wurtzel used Southern Exposure in Battle Creek and the Barn Theatre in Augusta. Being given the chance to shoot part of his latest film at Air Zoo was particularly thrilling. In a release, Wurtzel said, quote:

When we were given access to the Air Zoo for A Christmas Hero it was very exciting because I consider it one of the top aviation museums in the country and also because this story really works best in this location.

You can find A Christmas Hero on many streaming platforms like Amazon, iTunes, and Video on Demand, as well as on DVD.

Check out the trailer for A Christmas Hero below.

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