> How long has your fave business been in town, check Then & Now! Pgs. 7-10 > GSS’s “Last Hurrah” reunion in works Pg 5 > Mayor’s Gala planned for Feb. 23 Pg 6 > Almost Almost Famous in theatres Pg 13 Thursday, January 3, 2018 Vol. 7 Issue 35
www.wn3.ca 100% Niagara owned & operated.
Proudly serving Grimsby, Lincoln, West Lincoln & Winona
Circ: 26,529
New Grimsby Airpark – now known as Grimsby Regional Airport – owner Tom Brown, left, and facility general manager Gary Plummer have plans to not only update the Mud Street operation but to grow and diversify the offerings on site. Key among plans is to develop the location as a one-stop-shop for aviation needs. The two are show in a repair bay of Kyle DeSaverio’s on-site Aviator Mobile Maintenance shop. Williscraft - Photo
Nowhere to go but up for airport By Mike Williscraft For NewsNow A new year, a new direction for Grimsby Air Park. Ok, raise your hands if you didn’t know Grimsby had an airport. It does, and Tom Brown is the proud new owner. Brown took over from long-time own-
er/operator Ralph Meyer , who, in turn, had succeeded his father Ralph Sr., in running the Mud Street facility. The airpark has been in operation since 1978, is now known as Grimsby Regional Airport. Brown, a professor in Toronto, has been a long-time aviation
enthusiast who has been looking at the Grimsby opportunity for several years. “It needs a lot of work, but it is coming along,” said Brown, who noted several immediate upgrades have been planned, some executed already including electric doors openers
being installed on the hangars. “We’ve had our eye on the place for a long time and there is a lot to like about it.” The 120 acre site has room to grow, and that is the plan over time. “There are lots of things we would like to do, but we are
going to grow into things,” said Brown. The number of planes which can be accommodated has expanded from 25 to 35 and the spaces have filled at a steady rate since those came on line. “We will fill what we have and grow when we need to,” noted
Plummer, a West Lincoln resident. Important to the success of the operation is word-ofmouth among those in the flying community, said Brown. “You want people to like using the facility and come back again and again, he said. See PLANE, Page 3