Our Section..
Gold Cup Air Rally
Women's
Aviation Exhibit
Our Webpage
Happy New Year and welcome to the new
millennium! I hope everyone had had a great start to this new
century. This year the East Canada Section is also celebrating our
50th Anniversary! For half a century, women in eastern Canada have
been coming together as a group to help each other and to share
their love of flying! I have been a 99 for the last fifteen years
and I am quite proud to be a member of this community of women
pilots.
Since this is my last newsletter as Governor,
I may get a little sappy but I hope you will indulge me. 1999 was a
great year for me for many reasons. For starters, it was the year
I turned 40. People who have been here know, it is somewhat of a
turning point in life. For me, I realized how lucky I am to be
here..when you think of all the things can get you. And I realized
how lucky I have been to be so healthy to be able to enjoy so many
things including this great love of flying. I have also realized
how lucky I have been to grow up in this community of women flyers
we call the 99s. I have learned so much over the years through my
association and I greatly value the friends I have made. I have had
many mentors over the years in this group including my instructor
Mary Norman, who has always had the patience to teach me how to
enter those holds ...for every instrument re-ride I've had to take.
And my good flying buddy 
Margo McCutcheon has taught me too many tricks of the trade to
recount.
Joy Blackwood continues to impress me daily with her great business
acumen.
People like 
Marilyn
Dickson and 
Jean
Hancher are my idols in the "follow your dream" categories. Adele
Fogel and Daphne Schiff are also my heroes and have definitely
proven to me that you can continue to do what you love for as long
as you can get in that plane. Obviously you don't have to look far
for inspiration in this group of women - 
Pat Crocker, I know has inspired many, many people with her attitude
of forging ahead and sharing her love of flying even though she
can't get in that plane any more.
Women have always been tremendous volunteers
but this in this group of women I have met some real outstanding
examples. I have been inspired by the work of 
Sue Ehrlander (not to mention her formidable acts of diplomacy) who
takes on things like a little ..International Convention.
And 
Dorothy Berthelet, who at last count had over 20
volunteer positions and still took on the job of completely
rewriting our website.
I am awe-struck by a woman like 
Dee Birchmore, who leads a whirlwind life and enjoys it to the
fullest. Dee, as you all know had a little (life-threatening)
incident this summer, ended up healing from several cracked and
chipped bones (she wasn't told she had) and still completed a
grueling non-stop ten day tour of Egypt with me in the fall!
I am continually inspired and educated by all
the women in this group who have made or are trying to make their
way in careers in this wacky field of aviation - from 
Lorna deBlicquy, who has just recently retired from
a most distinguished career to Cathy Fraser who gracefully juggles
many demanding roles at once. I recently heard Glynis Robison speak
and I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to learn from a
woman with her kind of credentials ...1st woman pilot hired at Air
Canada, 1st woman Captain, 1st woman to move into management, 1st
woman Chief Pilot. Just awesome! I could go on and on. I don't
mean to leave any one out because so many people in this
organization have touched my life and I feel lucky for that.
I am proud to be associated with the 99s and
the East Canada Section. I have learned many things over the years
from this group. I developed the confidence to speak in public and
I learned that I can make a difference in an organization. I've
learned that an organization like ours can make a difference in the
larger community. As women in aviation we are making a difference,
we are changing the face of aviation. And I am proud of that!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Gold Cup Air Rally
In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the
East Canada Section, Marilyn Dickson has assembled a committee to
organize the Gold Cup Air Rally. The route was established to
accommodate a stop in each Chapter and will begin with a briefing
(i.e. party) in London with the Maple Leaf Chapter. There will be a
spot landing and lunch in Toronto with the First Canadian Chapter
and overnight with the Eastern Ontario Chapter in Ottawa. The
following evening we will feast on lobster with friends in the
Atlantic Chapter in Fredericton and then back to Dorval for the Gala
evening with the women of the Montreal Chapter.
Lorna de Blicquy has agreed to speak to us
about her various exploits in the field of aviation and beyond at
our celebration. Then on Sunday morning we will have the first
official East Canada Section meeting of the new Millennium. The
success of the Gold Cup Air Rally depends on the participation of
the members of the East Canada Section. We hope that everyone will
get involved in this historical rally and help launch the next 50
years of our Section.
For registration information,
contact Pat Thunich at
patthunich@hotmail.com. Or call her at 905-331-1633 or at work
905-858-0253. April 15th is the registration deadline.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Women's Aviation Exhibit
Shirley Allen is organizing another important
project for this Millennium. To commemorate the founding of our
Section, we felt it was important to leave a legacy of our first 50
years of our Section and the history of women in aviation in Eastern
Canada. 
Nat McHaffie,
the chair of the Toronto Aviation Museum, has offered us space at
this Museum, to store our Section files and memorabilia and also
space for a Women's Exhibit. This is another project that will
require the help of all the members of the Section. The organizing
committee is requesting help in gathering artifacts and memorabilia,
articles and pictures so that we can bring together an interesting
and educational display on the history of women in aviation. If you
would like to participate, please give Shirley Allen a call at
705-277-1678 or fax 705-277-9736. We look forward to a Grand
Opening of the Exhibit in the fall.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Our Webpage
I want to officially thank Dorothy Berthelet
for the outstanding job she has done on the All-Canada Section
website. I would encourage all of you to take a look at the site
and use it as a tool for communicating with all 99s in Canada.
Dorothy has spent a tremendous amount of time and effort making this
site into a real source of information with pages on everything from
the history of the International Organization to info on every one
of our current Section programs to a current calendar of events from
each Chapter. Dorothy has done a very professional job in
formatting the site with eye-catching graphics and pictures. The
information provided is very educational for members but also for
women looking for info on our organization. I want to thank you
again, Dorothy, for this great service you have provided for our
Section. The site address is members.home.net/99canada. Please
take a look and spread the word. If you have any news you'd like to
put on the site, contact Dorothy at
canadian99s@yahoo.ca.
I would like to thank 
Jane Tilley of the Eastern Ontario Chapter who has currently taken
over the office of Membership Chair. You can reach Jane at
613-562-2000 or by fax at 613-562-2001.
Sue Ehrlander has a new email - you can now
reach her at
rsehrlander@aol.com
Governor's Newsletter (East
Canada Section - Winter 2000) 