Something missing from airport announcement

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Proposed renovations at the Brandon airport terminal are seen in this conceptual drawing provided by the city.

It's a commonly-held truism among reporters that, if you want to make sure the press attends your press conference, make sure there's free food.

So this morning, as they revealed cheery "conceptual" renderings (read: wishful thinking) of "proposed" renovations to Brandon's airport, the city laid out a light breakfast.

I confess: It almost made me go. But instead, I had a colleague bring me back a muffin. All the benefits, none of the work.

He also brought me back a copy of the press release touting the proposed renos.

And that's where I noticed something missing.

No, not a full accounting of where the $1.5 million (sure to spiral up, up, up) is going to come from. That's in there, although it's pretty glossed over.

What's missing, actually, is the name "McGill Field."

More than 40 years ago, just after the terminal building at the Brandon airport was built, citizens decided that it should be named after someone -- and not just anyone, they bestowed the honour on Edward Robert McGill.

On Dec. 31, 1970, the minister of transport made it official, and Brandon's airport became designated McGill Field.

If you drive out there today, you'll see the name displayed prominently on a sign at the entrance to the airport (just past the T-33 trainer jet).

In early January 1971, the Brandon Sun covered a dinner in McGill's honor, where a granite plaque was unveiled. It would later be installed in the terminal at the airport. Here's an image of the microfilm from that paper:

(As an aside, the story was written by Dirk Aberson, a longtime photographer for the Brandon Sun, and photo editor at the time. No, it's not common for photographers to write stories, but in this case, Dirk was also a pilot, so he was probably going to be at the dinner anyway.)

It'll be tough to read the story in this image, I know, but here are the first few paragraphs:

About 300 people attended a testimonial dinner at the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium Saturday night in honor of E. R. McGill, former secretary-manager of the Brandon Flying Club.

Among the main tributes paid to Mr. McGill, perhaps the most lasting will be the granite plaque bearing the inscription "McGill Field" which officially commemorates the re-naming of the Brandon Municipal airport by the minister of transport, Don Jamieson.

Friends and associates from all walks of life rose to accord Ed McGill, his wife and family a standing ovation as Dr. Keith Hurst unveiled the plaque which is to be installed in the new Brandon air terminal building.

Reading it now, I was struck by the irony in that "lasting tribute." Because sadly, just four decades later, the city appears to have all but forgotten poor Ed McGill.

• In the press release touting the improvements, it's not mentioned once. (I did find it, however, given in the first invite, as part of the "Brandon Municipal Airport's" address.)
• There's nothing about McGill in the conceptual renderings (although I do count "Brandon Municipal Airport" appearing at least a dozen times).
• On the city's new airport website, I can only find it once among the seven pages. Again, "Brandon Airport" and "Brandon Municipal Airport" are everywhere else, including the prominent logo at the top.

That's sad, because based on what I've read, Ed McGill deserves the honour.

The Manitoba Historical Society has a brief bio on him, as one of their notable Manitobans. The Sun story from 1971 goes into extensive detail.

Not only did he serve (with distinction) in the Second World War, he returned to Brandon afterwards to manage the flying school at the airport.

By the account given in the Sun, he's the reason Brandon has much of an airport at all. Reading between the lines, it sounds like the post-war government was about ready to sell off every piece of equipment to whomever, and McGill is the reason it all stayed put in Brandon.

He ended up managing the airport for 25 years.

Along the way, he volunteered his time to a large number of community organizations. And then he spent a dozen years as MLA for Brandon West -- including as a cabinet minister.

In 1977, he was given a Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal.

When he died, in 1996, McGill was lauded in the Manitoba Legislature, by fellow politicians Jim Downey, Jim McCrae and Gary Doer.

Brandon gets a (well-deserved) bad rap for being careless with our history. If we're not letting buildings rot until they crumble, we're actively knocking them down.

But here's a not-so-old case that -- despite signs and granite plaques -- we appear to be forgetting just through inactivity.

I agree, it's easy to call the Brandon airport by the name "Brandon Airport."

I do the same thing with the Brandon hospital. But the hospital's official name is the "Brandon Regional Health Centre".

And the airport's name is McGill Field.

When it was renamed as such, McGill had this to say:

"The success of the Brandon Flying Club belongs to the many people associated with it; the board members who served without pay; the flying instructors and maintenance personnel; and my family and I accept this very great honor on their behalf."

It sounds typically self-effacing for a man who was described as such a soft-spoken gentleman that he was given the ironic nickname of "Mad Dog."

Wouldn't you want to fly out of an airport named after "Mad Dog", even if the name was given in gentle jest?

At any rate, the point is that the name's already been given. Brandon's municipal airport is McGill Field.

I really do hope that the city manages to land regular service from WestJet (or Air Canada) and I think the airport upgrades will be a welcome addition (no matter where the money comes from).

But I also hope consideration is given to some of the history of the airport, as well as its future.