SUNDRE – Overcast skies that eventually led to rainfall warning on Monday held off long enough to provide ideal conditions for the Sundre Flying Club’s annual Mother’s Day Fly-in Breakfast.
“It was perfect, absolutely perfect,” said Bruno Bradley, a club director and Sundre resident.
“Started to sprinkle three hours after the event was over, but blue skies and beautiful,” said Bradley. “Everybody had a chance to fly home safely.”
Pilots started touching down at the Sundre Airport earlier on the morning of Sunday, May 11. There were 31 pilots who flew in by helicopter and airplane with the farthest hailing from western Saskatchewan, he said, adding overall attendance was good.
“We served just under 500 plates,” he said.
“We did have a lot of new young families in that were there for the first time,” he said, adding bouncy castles and face painting seemed to have enticed them to come out.
“This is the sort of stuff that I’d lean towards, because it’s very, very family oriented.”
From a financial perspective, the club cannot afford to offer such additions to the annual fly-in breakfast, and Bradley expressed gratitude to Mountain View County for making it possible.
“There’s no way we could have done it without the support of Mountain View County,” he said.
While there are other fly-ins and car shows throughout the larger region “where the gear heads can go and the plane nuts can go,” Bradley said his intent is to focus more on delivering a family event.
“My vision has always been to bring young families and incorporate that along with the breakfast and hopefully the mothers can, you know, get a moment’s peace to eat while the kids are being entertained,” he said.
Organizationally speaking, he said the fly-in went off without a hitch.
“It’s just amazing how smooth that it flowed this year,” he said.
Among the dignitaries attending, all without pomp and fanfare, were MLA Jason Nixon, reeve Angela Aalbers and Sundre mayor Richard Warnock with rodeo royalty serving up breakfast. The county also had some administrative staff on site to provide information and get input on the area concept plan with an upcoming open house planned for May 26 at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #223 in Sundre, he said.
“It really seems to be developing into a very cohesive unit, where everybody is all working together now,” he said about the airport.
While relationships had once upon a time been rather rocky, that all appears to have become water under the bridge, he said, adding those past sentiments “all seem to have just evaporated.
“Everybody is getting along, and I’m just so happy about how things have evolved to include everybody,” he said.
In his experience, this year’s event was among the best to date, and he hopes the future may yet pave the way for further opportunities to keep growing.
“The second busiest airport for takeoffs and landings and all that for general aviation in all of Canada is the first airport to the south of us, which is Springbank,” he said.
“No matter what we do, we can’t turn back the tide; these airports will keep getting busier.”
