60th anniversary celebration for St. Andrews Airport

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Airports keeps flying to new heights

The St. Andrews Airport celebrated 60 years in the community last weekend. To commemorate this achievement, they opened up the airport to the community who took part in flights, food and fun last Friday. 

Jerry Roehr, former chair/director of St. Andrews Airport Inc., took to the microphone first welcoming residents to the event and explaining some of the history of the airport. 

“As a reliever airport to Winnipeg, the St. Andrews Airport opened in 1964 with one employee who lived in a farmhouse. It had grass runways. Now, they are all paved with taxiways and five aprons to access 187 hangers, many housing multiple aircraft,” said Roehr. 

This is great progress for the community as when the airport was transferred from federal government ownership to being owned by the RM of St. Andrews in 1999, the airport only had 42 hangers. 

Roehr explained that since the St. Andrews Airport Inc. board took over running the airport with the ownership transfer, they eliminated the deficit that the airport was operating under in three years and then proceeded to invest more than nine million dollars into the airport over the last 25 years including expansions, upgrades and improvements. 

Record Photos by Katelyn Boulanger

“There are over 70 tenants at the airport which means, for the most part, there are active businesses including flight training schools, various aircraft maintenance facilities, and three scheduled airlines serving 16 [Indigenous] communities in Northern Manitoba and North-Western Ontario [from this airport],” said Roehr.

He also took the time to toot the airport’s horn as it’s the tenth busiest airport in Canada surpassing Winnipeg in take-offs and landings per year. 

Roehr explained that though the relationships between the RM, the airport, and local citizens have not always been completely smooth, he believes the airport is a great asset to the municipality. 

Roehr was followed by Russ Paradoski the current chair of the airport’s volunteer board of directors. 

Paradoski started his speech by recognizing the dignitaries in attendance as well as all of the people and organizations that, past and present, have kept the airport going over the years and contributed to the day’s celebration. He then went on to present five retired board members who, “have contributed hundreds of hours of their time to ensure the St. Andrews Airport was successful, safe and growing for the future under their watch,” with service awards.

These former board members are Gilles Gobert, Mark Chislett, Bill Hilash, Jerry Roehr, and Grant Pronishen.

The speeches were rounded up with recognition from St Andrews Mayor Joy Sul who said, “It’s wonderful to see such great attendance. This is indeed an awesome celebration for our airport’s 60th anniversary. The RM of St. Andrews is proud to be the owner of this gem of our municipality and we thank the volunteer board for their dedication and hard work in operating the airport and maintaining its success.”

Local MLA Richard Perchotte commended the airport saying, that it is a testament to the dreams of the people of our area.

An acknowledgement plaque was also presented by local MP James Bezan to the airport recognizing their 60th anniversary. 

“We know that this airport offers a major link between the City of Winnipeg-St. Andrews region and Canada’s north. And so, I just can’t overstate the fact that this is a strategic airport. It is one that [benefits] our overall future as a province, as a municipality, and, of course, benefiting the country of Canada. So, on behalf of all of my colleagues in parliament, and definitely on behalf of the great people of Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman that I get to represent in Ottawa, I want to thank the volunteer board. I want to thank [Zachary Holden] and his crew here, and everyone that makes the St. Andrews airport home,” said Bezan. 

Katelyn Boulanger
Katelyn Boulanger
Katelyn Boulanger has been a reporter with the Selkirk Record since 2019 and editor of the paper since 2020. Her passion is community news. She cares deeply about ensuring residents are informed about their communities with the local information that you can't get anywhere else. She strives to create strong bonds sharing the diversity, generosity, and connection that our coverage area is known for."

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