| The Lawson Field 60th Anniversary Reunion |
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| Come Join the party...... |
| Updated February 14th 2010 Organising of this event for all ex employees and invited guests started on the 23rd of May 2009 when I was approached by 2 ex Lawson Field employees who attended the 60th Ag Aviation Reunion in Masterton. This event was held to commemorate 60 years of Agricultural Aviation in New Zealand. The event was organised by my good friends Lou Forhecz and Kerry Fenton along with John and Penny Bargh. It was a great meeting of people and was a real shame the weather was at it's worst, still no spirits were dampened. The Lawson Field Reunion this year should be the 61st by rights as this is when Mr. Field started Aerial topdressing in earnest as the Gisborne Aerial Topdressing Company. But Fieldair was formed as a Company in 1951 so I guess we can use 1950 as the basis for proceedings. The event will be held in Gisborne over Labour Weekend 2010, allowing people outside the district to get to and from the town during the long weekend. It will officially start at 2pm on Saturday the 23rd at 2pm when we will all meet at the old "Hika" pub, now known as The Bushmere Arms. Transport will be arranged to and from this establishment for those requiring it as it is located about 10 kms from the city boundary on SH2 which is the Gisborne to Opotiki main highway. This will be the Meet and Greet and Registration part so we can congregate and catch up, all pretty relaxed. This is planned to go through until 6pm and nibbles and tea/coffee will be provided. Other "liquid" refreshments will, of course, be readily available and it is hoping sponsorship may help with a "tab". Nothing is planned for the evening on Saturday as I know I will need an early night as Sunday will be a long day and if you've travelled a long distance, you may well require time to rejuvenate!! But I'm sure some will make arrangements for a night out in the big smoke. Sunday morning we will all gather at the Gisborne Aviation Preservation Society Museum at the Gisborne Airport at 9am. This is where Fieldair's Lodestar BUV is undergoing a complete restoration. Also there is DC3 BYF which is still in the RNZAF colour scheme and work is being done to restore this Aircraft. There will be a Static display of over 25 Aircraft lined up around the Museum including Tiger Moths, Beavers and Cessnas, including Fieldair's "Flagship" Beaver AZB. She has been purchased by Hallett Griffin and, as I write this, is on the water returning from Australia. Hallett is hopeful AZB will be adorning the old blue/white/red colour scheme that Fieldair used in the early years. Another Beaver present will be Jim Frogley's BBX, the 2nd Beaver purchased by Fieldair in 1952. Both of the Aircraft are the only active topdressing DHC-2's in the world. An Air Display Demo will be held later in the morning if the weather conditions are suitable and will possibly start with a Tiger Moth spraying. Gary Yardley, an experienced Spray pilot from Masterton, will put ANL through its paces using coloured water. The 2 Beavers will put on a show sowing Lime which can be spectacular viewing and then Andy Stevenson will put on a display in a Cresco, showing off it's immense power and handling capabilities. It is also hoped a Tiger will be available to do a sowing run but that has yet to be confirmed. At the end of Andy's sortie, we hope to get as many Aircraft as we can to join the Cresco in a fly-past over the Aerodrome and possibly the City. All this is tentative at this early stage and no doubt will change as the time draws nearer. A BBQ lunch will be provided as well as refreshments throughout the day and the afternoon can be spent wandering through the Museum. It is hoped to wind up at around 3pm in preparation for the Formal dinner. Let's hope the Gisborne weather is kind to us. So bring a deck chair and umbrella if you can and enjoy the setting to catch up with people and planes. The dinner will be held at The Bushmere Arms Hotel and, again, transport will be arranged to and from the venue. Starting at 6pm and tentative at this point, speeches will get underway at 7pm followed by the dinner at 8pm and followed by live music so people with any hair left, can get up and let it down!! Speakers at the dinner will include Lawson Field's nephew Tony Field who will give an account of Lawson's early life. Tony owns a lovely Jewellers shop in the main street of Gisborne so please pay him a visit there if you can. Other speakers have yet to be confirmed but I hope to have Bob Allen and John Riddell fill in the spots here. The dinner will draw to a close around midnight if we are still on our feet!! On Monday there will be a farewell morning tea from 9.30am at a venue yet to be decided upon, hopefully at Lawson's old residence in Clifford Street, Gisborne. Tony Field occupies this delightful home with beautiful gardens and views. The whole event will be filmed by Lawson's Grandson Mark Chrisp who owns Gisborne Video Productions and will be available on DVD at a later stage. It is imperative that we are at the separate proceedings on time please. I don't want people turning up to the Airport late and possibly missing out on the Air Display or being late for the dinner and missing out on speeches. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Times and places are: 2pm - Saturday October 23 2010 - Meet and Greet - Bushmere Arms 9am - Sunday 24 2010 - Aircraft Display - Gisborne Airport. 6pm - Sunday October 24 2010 - Dinner - Bushmere Arms 9.30am - Monday October 25 2010 - Farewell Morning Tea (Venue yet to be decided) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Registration fee has yet to be set as gathering together sponsorship to help us has just got underway. Forms will be available nearer the time but those wishing to attend can e-mail or phone the following people. Graeme Mills Phone: +61- (0)2-4931-9266 and e-mail here Paul Corrin at CGM Motorcycles - 243 Palmerston Road Gisborne Phone: +64 - (0)6 - 867-6638 and e-mail here Neville Worsley Phone: +64 - (0)7 - 345-5776 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Corrin has been instrumental in getting the Museum up and running and as they have 3 Aircraft that were once associated with Fieldair, he is on board with organising this event. It is hoped that the Lodestar and DC3 will both be fully restored in Fieldair colours and proceeds from this gathering will go towards helping with that. Neville Worsley, who flew Beavers and DC3's, is also on board and is helping immensely in locating ex employees. Neville is still flying vigorously and there aren't many types of Aircraft he hasn't flown. Other people that are behind the scenes but helping out include Bill Luther in Auckland who is supposed to be partly retired but is, in fact, expanding his business and owns a lovely Tri-Pacer FJD which can be seen at Ardmore. I loaded for Bill back in 1985-86 when he was flying a Fletcher, Beaver and DC3. Tony Field, Lawson Fields nephew who owns a Jewellers outlet on the corner of Gladstone Road and Bright Street in Gisborne. Tony knows Lawson's early history and has a lot of Lawsons "memorabilia". He is a great proof reader and advisor to boot. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amongst the growing list of attendees are the following folk. Barbara Duckett, who is Arch Frasers daughter, from Hokitika. Mark Erskine, who is Derek Erskine's son, from Auckland. Derek and his lovely wife Ellen live in Upper Hutt but are unable to come. Ainsley Down, who is Charlie Downs daughter, from Gisborne. Craig Emeny who owns Fieldair's last surviving airworthy DC3 AWP. Bruce Grave, Bob Grave's son, of Gisborne. Eddie Wilson, wife of the late Vaughan "Flash" Wilson. I am working hard to get Neil Aird from Canada to come out for this gathering. Neil is known as "King Beaver" and has been spending most of his lifetime tracking down every Beaver Aircraft built. His website has thousands of photos and heaps of information. Visit him here at DHC-2.com. Lenn Bayliss from Australia will be in NZ at this time. He is a master photographer and aircraft enthusiast. He has a massive collection of photos connected with Australian topdressing, amongst other avenues. There will also be a few people from the area that, although may have never been employed by Fieldair, have had a strong association with the firm or the industry in one way or another. Included in this "group" are: Hallett Griffin, current owner of Beaver AZB, down at Kairanga Ex James pilots Les Marshall, Peter Andrew and Dennis Clark. Denis Hartley, long time Ruatoria Helicopter Operator Spud Tait, Fieldair photographer of Gisborne, at "The Tool Shed" Phil Goodwin, ex Cookson's of Gisborne for help locating people John Barr of Barr Bros Maurice Forster-Pratt from Flight Care, Napier Richmond and John Harding late of Wanganui Aero Work Granville Jones, a Gisborne Aviator helping with organising Lindsay Keenan from Moree, Australia who operates Air Tractors Koira Keepa, long time ATC dignitary Andrew Crawford from ATC and Murray Bell from the Gisborne Council Peter Layne, DC3 guru from Wellington Dave Mullooly and Gary Thompson, ace Loader Engineers of Gisborne Frank Wright, Beaver restorer from Tauranga John Funnell, Beaver owner, Taupo Graham Wood, Bill Beard and Gary Butler, owners of Beaver CKH Gary Yardley, pilot of Tiger Moth ANL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The cut-off point has been agreed upon so please contact us if you intend coming or you may miss out on the meet and greet and dinner. A small fee will be payable if you just want to attend the Airport part of the event. Everyone will be given a lanyard with an embossed entry placard at the meet and greet and this will be required to be on your person to gain entry to all proceedings. A Security firm has been engaged at the Airport and entry will only be possible through the Museum door with the lanyard. For Insurance purposes, anyone found inside the restricted area without lawful permission will be removed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please contact the people mentioned above to Register your name and number attending and if you require any further information. The official forms will be made available at a later date but if you have contacted us prior to this it will be a big help. Again, I must stress that we all arrive at the various venues on time so we don't miss anything. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you require accommodation, the Portside Hotel have given me special rates for The Lawson Field Reunion attendees and you can contact them here: Phone: +61 - 06-869 1000 • E-mail: enquiries@portsidegisborne.co.nz Joan Gerritse General Manager ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking forward to seeing you all there. Graeme Mills kiwibeavers@gmail.com |
