PAGE A10 • MOOSEJAWEXPRESS.COM • Wednesday, June 26, 2019
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Retiring 15 Wing pilot and wife presented with Lois Boyle Award For Moose Jaw Express
Pilot and aerobatics performer Capt. Brent Handy and his wife Rebecca were caught by surprise with receiving the Lois Boyle Award for community service, strengthening the bond between 15 Wing and Moose Jaw. The couple thought they were on hand for a presentation to someone else. Rebecca had just told a friend she didn’t like surprises. But they both agreed this one was cool. Until his retirement this week, Brent was a full-time pilot for the RCAF. In both 2015 and 2017, they were instrumental in bringing a much-needed air show to the Moose Jaw region. Their determination and attention to detail inspired others to sign on and bring the first air show to the Moose Jaw municipal airport in 2015. With their leadership, a small group of volunteers was inspired and four weeks later Moose Jaw had an air show again. More than $10,000 was raised to help a pre-teen battle cancer.
15 Wing Fellowship chairman Aaron Ruston presents Brent and Rebecca Handy with the Lois Boyle Award. From left are Wing Commander Col. Denis O’Reilly, and 15 Wing Fellowship members Joyce Walter, Cal Jorstad, Carrie Froehlich and Ron Walter.
Two years later they led a second air show to success. Funds raised from the second air show were injected directly to help military and first responders fight PTSD. In 2018 Brent and Rebecca were instrumental in organizing a gala and air
demonstration at the municipal airport to raise funds for research into a cure for cystic fibrosis, working with a local family to make the event an unqualified success. A similar Soar for Cystic Fibrosis was held in May this year with thousands of dollars raised to help with
research into the disease. “I feel blessed to be able to do something I love and it is positive,” said Brent Handy. “You can tell the character of someone by the work they do when they don’t get anything for it,” commented Col. Denis O’Reilly, 15 Wing Commander. “You didn’t have to do what you did.” Handy retired from the RCAF after 20 years because “I had ticked off all the boxes I wanted to.” Now the couple and their children will start a two-year sailing adventure in a 42-foot boat from Florida around South America. But he will continue performing at air shows during that period. Lois Boyle, administrative assistant to Col. O.B. Philp and co-ordinator of the naming contest for the Snowbirds, mentored student pilots and members of the Snowbirds. She became known as “The Mother of the Snowbirds.”
REFLECTIVE MOMENTS O Canada: standing on guard for thee My recollection of childhood celebrations on Dominion Day don’t readily come to mind. If July 1 fell on a Friday or Monday, then it was likely my Dad would agree to a day of fishing, or at least a journey to Besant Park or Rowan’s Ravine for a time of doing not much of anything. Maybe there was a Joyce Walter game of catch (balls, not fish) and lots of food packed in ice For Moose Jaw Express in an old cooler — fried chicken, potato salad, fresh fruit, sandwiches, cookies and cake, plus coffee and tea and Kool Aid. Because Dad’s oil and gas business was crucial to our family finances, he could not be away from home for long lest he lose customers to Moose Jaw firms eager to enhance their own farm gate delivery business. If we did leave home for more than one night, he always made sure he had someone to babysit the oilshed, and if necessary,
to drive the gas truck for deliveries to farmers’ yards. If our school talked about confederation or Dominion Day and its relevance, I must have dozed for those lessons. It wasn’t until 1967, Canada’s centennial year, that I awoke to a true understanding of why Dominion Day was important and why July 1 was indeed more than a reason to head to the lake. Celebrations that year were intense, with funding available to every community that could put together a parade, a historical display, cooking and canning competitions or ball tournaments played with old fashioned rules. Business for fireworks companies boomed that year. My school class was involved in advance and had displays of essays written about Canada. Mine, I believe, is saved in a box now stored in a dark corner of the basement. Then years later, in 1983, Dominion Day was renamed Canada Day, even after communities in 1974-75 had organized Canada Week or Canada Day committees to promote Canadian unity. And since 1974 and the name change, Moose Jaw has been among communities throughout Canada that hold
special celebrations to acknowledge all the benefits of living in this country, benefits that sometimes are taken for granted, or are assumed to be part of our birthright. Canada is not a perfect country but even with its imperfections, it has so much to offer to all who live here and to those who choose to make it their home. Much has changed since Confederation in 1867 and no doubt more changes will impact the lives of Canadians, wherever they live in the provinces or territories. One thing that has changed several times is the lyrics to our national anthem. When O Canada is sung on July 1 will the majority cling to “in all thy sons command” or will they remember to warble “in all of us command?” I suspect older folks will insert sons in there as a matter of course, while youngsters will adopt the latest version. Regardless, sing at the top of your lungs, salute as the flag goes by and be thankful that we are free to celebrate on yet another July 1. Happy Canada Day. Joyce Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
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