Cold, wet weather limited the turnout for the eighth annual Hampton Roads Radio Control Club Toys for Tots Fun Fly on Saturday, but club members were still pleased with the amount of money and toys they were able to collect for the effort.

Most of the special events that had been planned as part of the event at the club’s Lone Star Lakes airfield in Chuckatuck had to be cancelled because of low-hanging clouds and degenerating weather conditions throughout the event. But even without the planned visits by an aerobatics team and skydivers, visitors made the best of the morning.

“This is our main charity event of the year,” HRRC president Mills Staylor said. “Obviously it’s somewhat controlled by the weather. It could have been worse, and it could have been better. We’ll look forward to doing it again next year.

Staylor and HRCC board member Ricky Thompson said the event had already raised more than $1,000 in sponsorships before the gates opened on Saturday. By the time the event was over, about $3,200 had been donated to Toys for Tots through direct contributions and the purchase of raffle tickets for a variety of donated prizes, including two radio-controlled airplanes, a controller and a couple of Christmas ornaments designed especially for the event.

The event has raised more than $20,000 in its eight years, Staylor said. Each year, spectators and participants also are asked to bring along a toy as the price of admission. Five boxes of toys were collected Saturday. Staylor said that was about the same amount that has been collected in previous years.

As some club members manned the raffle booth and others were preparing lunch on the grill, the buzz of tiny aircraft engines filled the air in the background. Members of the club took turns stretching their wings, as it were, while others tweaked settings on their model aircraft.

Santa Claus made a special appearance, too, and he found a steady stream of people who wanted to hug him and have their photos taken with him. Elsewhere, groups knotted together to chat and laugh, even as the temperature dropped and the mist began to fill the air.

“We’ve got a good group,” Staylor said. “Hopefully, we’ll provide some stuff for some kids who don’t have it.”