The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada was started by volunteers and continues to rely on volunteers to achieve its mission to preserve and promote the stories of aviation in western and northern Canada while educating, entertaining and inspiring.
The Western Canada Aviation Museum, as it was originally called, started in the basements of our five founding members: Gordon and Doug Emberley, Keith Olson, Murray Clearwater, and Al Hansen.
Back in 1974, motivated by a shared desire to preserve western Canada’s rich aviation heritage, the founding members retrieved a rare Bellanca Aircruiser that lay wrecked and abandoned in the northwestern Ontario bush.
When you enter the new museum, you will be greeted by a Vickers Vedette, our signature aircraft, which is a great story of volunteerism. It took 100 volunteers more than 20 years to restore it based on three wreckages.
There are countless stories of volunteerism in our history, and more to come as we continue the journey in our new home. It takes volunteers with a wide range of skills to enable us to open the museum for the public to enjoy for many decades to come. Volunteers include board members, campaign cabinet members, and seven teams of volunteers ranging from library and archives to tour guides to restoration. We are always on the lookout for new volunteers, especially once we open to the public. Please email Mario or call us if you would like to get involved.
In this issue of Boarding Pass, we honor Bert Jolly. Bert served as a volunteer at the museum for thirty years, was among the team that restored our Vickers Vedette, and continued to volunteer as recently as last year. I am honoured to have met Bert on a number of occasions, and, if you knew Bert, you would have to agree that he lived up to his name. He was a jolly man with an infectiously positive attitude. We will miss you, Bert. But we will never forget you.
Terry Slobodian, President & CEO
JOIN US FOR OUR GRAND OPENING THIS MAY LONG WEEKEND!
We’re thrilled that we’ll soon be able to welcome you to the new Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada!
Our grand opening is set for the May Long Weekend, and, while that’s a few months away, there’s lots left to do.
Exhibits are being installed, new staff are being hired, and exciting progress is happening each day.
Our new, LEED certified home will feature more than 20 aircraft, an interactive Experience Flight exhibit, a Galaxy Exploration Zone for children, a stunning observation area overlooking the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport runways, and much more.
Thanks to our many generous supporters for making this dream a reality.
We are mourning the loss of Bert Jolly, one of our most valued volunteers, who helped at the museum for decades. He was a wonderful man and will be missed by all who knew him.
Bert was fascinated by aviation from an early age, and he shared his experiences as a teenager visiting Stevenson Field (Winnipeg’s original airport) in a 2014 interview. (You can view the interview here: http://ow.ly/X3e350HSenQ.)
Bert went on to serve in the Navy during WWII and served with 402 Reserve Air Force Squadron in the 1950s. Starting in 1992, Bert volunteered in the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada’s restoration shops, taking on various tasks including management of the parts storeroom.
We will always remember his bright smile and dedication to the museum.
THE STORY OF STARRATT AIRWAYS AND THE RED LAKE GOLD RUSH
When Robert Starratt arrived at Hudson, Ontario, with his wife Iris and their children in April 1926, the town was little more than a train station isolated in the forests of northern Ontario.
Gold, tons of it, had been discovered the previous year, locked in the 2.5 billion-year-old rock of the Canadian Shield and thousands of young prospectors flooded the Red Lake area seeking their fortune.