Spring is finally upon us, a time of growth and renewal.  With that in mind we should take a moment to reflect on what has come before as well.

We have recently said our final goodbyes to three people who played significant roles in the growth of the Flying Club that we’ve come to know.  George Ferguson, our former mayor, was a long time friend and patron of the AFC.  It would take far too long to list the many contributions made by George.  His strong support of the AFC, AIAS and aviation in the Fraser Valley has been invaluable.  He will be greatly missed.

We also recently lost two members of the club who can best be described as family.  Shirley Hubbard was the wife of Frank Hubbard and was for many years a sustaining member.  Shirley and Frank were involved in the aviation industry since first meeting during the war in a hospital in the UK and were major, long term contributors to the AFC.  They both worked many hundreds of hours around and for the club.  We will miss Shirley’s tireless work ethic and humour.

Norm Hart was the club’s treasurer for many years and most of our senior members will best remember Norm as the guy who greeted them at the door on meeting night with a smile and a handwritten bill.  As time rolls inexorably on, we must take a moment to remember the contributions made by ALL who came before.

An oft-repeated quote I’ve been hearing around the club lately is “the past is the past and we have to look to the future”.  In response, I would like to quote a famous American philosopher, George Santayama – “If we do not learn from the past, we are condemned to repeat it”.

The AFC has endured and in fact flourished for the last 55 years due to the hard work and decisions, some good and some not so good, made by our members.  But we learned, and to belittle those efforts in any way does both our past and current members a great injustice.

An enduring construct is built upon a strong foundation.  Our founding members built such a foundation but it is only through the continued participation of all our members, old and new, that we can continue to grow.  So please support your club and future growth by getting involved.

Ken Campbell
AFC President