It’s not unusual for North Central West Virginia Airport Director Rick Rock and Deputy Director Shawn Long to have lunch together. What is odd is when one of them surprises the other with some subject matter about the airport.

 

That happened back on June 30 as the pair was having lunch at Winnie’s on Main Street in downtown Bridgeport on a cloudy Friday.

 

“Shawn looked at me and said ‘Snoop flew in this morning after 9 a.m.’ That was how I knew about it,” said Rock. “He came in that morning from Tampa, St. Pete.”

 

While celebrities flying in and out of NCWV Airport is not new, Snoop’s story has a really unique twist on customer service. It also has a pretty cool spin on how Snoop interacts with people.

 

Before getting there, a small amount of background. The flight arrived that morning and it did not stop to fuel up. He actually left the airport, boarded a vehicle, and headed to Nemacolin Resort in Farmington, Pa., a little more than an hour north of Bridgeport.

 

Rock said he is not sure what the reason for the trip to the resort was for but added that Snoop returned that evening and departed on his G5 (Gulfstream 5 large business jet). On both arrival and departure, the airport crew did what Rock had always directed them to do.

 

“We tell our staff to be professional with anyone that’s famous, whether it’s a music star an athlete or anyone else that the public knows,” said Rock. “They were doing it that day with Snoop even though I know they were excited. It’s our unspoken code.”

 

The code was being managed to a level that apparently caught the legendary rapper off guard when he returned from Nemacolin. In fact, he finally broached the group that had essentially gave him his space when arriving and then as he was departing.

 

“He looked at those helping out and finally said ‘you all don’t want your picture taken?’ Of course, they did, and they got a photo with him,” said Rock. “The other thing they said was he was extremely friendly and just genuinely nice and a good man to be around.”

 

Rock said it is not the first time a celebrity asked to get a photo taken with staff. The last time came in October of 2018. At that time, Jay Leno was performing at the first event at the Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center and flew into Bridgeport.

 

“He landed and one of our guys, Bill Rota, was there. He saw Bill and said ‘Hey, you look like me,’ and asked to get a picture together,” said Rock. “Most of the people who have that famous tag are generally polite, some are really outgoing, and some want their privacy. We’ll react to all of them.”

 

Rock, who has been with the airport for decades, said there have been plenty of celebrities. He recalls Miranda Lambert, Toby Keith, Jay-Z and Beyonce, plenty of government officials such as the late Attorney General Janet Reno and FBI directors such as Louis Freeh, and one that caught him by surprise.

 

“William Shatner actually flew in here. What was unique about it was he flew in commercially,” said Rock. “He was in our lobby reading a newspaper.”

 

As for Snoop, Rock said he would have liked to have met him. He did say his staff asked why they landed at the North Central West Virginia Airport.

 

“Our staff said they were told that they heard this was the best airport in West Virginia to fly into,” said Rock. “I’d like to think Snoop said that, but it was probably the pilot. Either way, we’ll take it.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Snoop with NCWV Airport staff as he departs late on the evening of June 30, while Jay Leno stands with airport employee Bill Rota who Leno immediately said "looked like him" when he departed his plane.