Jubilee Seafood Dinner for Aero Club members
By Pauline Stewart.
The venue for this auspicious event was the hangar which is attached to the Coro Club Café and Bar,
‘Niklas Brandt, Chef and Manager of the Coro Club catered for the dinner with a team of young adults. Everything about the evening was excellent. Guests were honoured with preparation for their seating at fine dining settings – tables of ten. The food was served in shared dishes of a variety of fresh and exquisitely prepared seafood plus many adjacent dishes for those who didn’t eat seafood. Every course was delicious. The hangar was suitably decorated for a significant occasion- soft lighting and with a background of two airplanes plus a visual screen silently telling the story of the airfield, and the Aero Club.
Over 100 people attended this night to remember.
Evan Wheeler, President, hosted the evening and in his Jubilee speech, there was time to thank people for significant contributions to the progress and existing success of the airfield and the airport.
John who funded the initial undertaking to build the hangars which meant a flow of income, something the Aero Club needed to become self -sufficient;
Leigh Hopper and his team for the generous and efficient work done to improve drainage to the airfield and to raise the level of the ground surface for the building of the hangars;
Bill Beard for his leadership and organisation of the 75th Jubilee celebrations;
Those who had battled in the past to ensure that the airfield stayed in the hands of those who would be passionate about caring for it and ensuring its future. Evan spoke directly that there had been difficult times and periods where they relied on Pub Charities just to pay the rates.
Gallagher Insurance for their sponsorship. Two speeches which were in sense excellent narrations were part of the meal experience. Walter Russell who is the ‘father ‘of Aero Club history and a pilot himself, spoke of the club’s history. Paul Hood, whose account of flying his new Cessna from California to Whitianga featured in The Informer recently, told the diners of the details of how that journey came about and what it was like as a pilot.
The Aero Club has many plans to enlarge its work.
The community congratulates all of you and extends its thanks for an airport and airfield that is used by everyone. As the paper went to print a farewell breakfast was held at the Aero Club hangar for the special guests and Air Show and Aero Day participants.