Lethbridge Sport Flyers recognize 18 members for years of dedication and service to CASARA

Sunny South News Photo by Kristine Jean. HONOURED: The Lethbridge Sport Flyers (LSF) COPA Flight 24 recently honoured 18 club members for their years of dedication and service with the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) of Canada. The members were presented with certificates and recognized in a special ceremony during the club’s annual AGM on Nov. 20. Members with their certificates from left to right are: Mike White, Brian Wilson, Lynn Wilson, Ron Janzen, Lauretta Nordstrom, Dwayne Armstrong and Martin Nordstrom. Missing from the photo is Al Blakely, Dave Van Dyke, Dwight Perry, Elaine Friesen, Ed Kalau (posthumously), Emery Dueck, Larry Oddan, Lloyd Tudor, Max Kroker, Sandi Blakely, and Wes Schultz.

By Kristine Jean
Sunny South News

The Lethbridge Sport Flyers (LSF) COPA Flight 24 recently honoured 18 club members for their years of dedication and service with the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) of Canada. 

Members were recognized for their volunteer work with CASARA’s Lethbridge Zone 1, and were presented with certificates in a special ceremony on Nov. 20, during the club’s annual general meeting in Lethbridge County. 

The certificate they received included a Zone 1 reactivation statement for the first 12 members who volunteered starting in 2010. Back then, Lethbridge was an inactive zone. Martin Nordstrom organized the effort following a meeting with the CASARA team from Calgary Zone 2 at a fly-in breakfast in Medicine Hat, and thanks to the volunteerism of LSF and local pilots, and  LSF members, the CASARA Lethbridge Zone 1 was re-activated later that summer. 

Those recognized on the club’s 15-year anniversary with CASARA, included Al Blakely, Brian Wilson, Dave Van Dyke, Dwayne Armstrong, Dwight Perry, Elaine Friesen, Ed Kalau (posthumously), Emery Dueck, Larry Oddan, Lauretta Nordstrom, Lynn Wilson, Lloyd Tudor, Martin Nordstrom, Max Kroker, Mike White, Ron Janzen, Sandi Blakely, and Wes Schultz.  

“(Tonight) is to acknowledge those in our club who have served with  CASARA …there’s still a few of our club members who are part of that original group,” said Ron Janzen, president of the Lethbridge Sport Flyers, noting he later joined and volunteered as a pilot with CASARA for about five years. 

While call outs by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) are few in the Lethbridge Zone 1 area, Janzen noted the important role volunteers have, ensuring they are prepared to assist in different scenarios if needed. 

“They provide a service that the big airplanes can’t because we can get into tighter spaces and we can get lower, so we’re ready to go when called upon,” said Janzen. 

“The whole atmosphere changes if there’s an active search,” he added. “When we’re practising in our bi-monthly (training) we do what we do, but when it’s an actual search you’re adrenaline changes. It gets serious really quick.” 

CASARA has 13 member organizations that operate from coast to coast, covering all 10 provinces and three territories in Canada. Each member organization operates within its province or territory with multiple designated zones. In those zones, CASARA has over 1,800 members trained to assist search and rescue operations and promote aviation safety.

Alberta has six of these member organizations with Zone 1 Lethbridge covering the southern part of the province. Membership is open to aircraft owners and pilots, as well as to those who wish to receive training as spotters and navigators. Members receive training in fields such as aviation safety, meteorology, survival awareness, search techniques and procedures.

Today, Lethbridge Zone 1 functions as part of this Canada-wide integrated Search and Rescue (SAR) system, with Sandy Blakely as Zone Commander. 

Lauretta Nordstorm, a retired ultra light pilot, was one of the volunteers recognized Nov. 20, and like Janzen, is now retired as a volunteer. During her time as a CASARA volunteer, she was a trained navigator, spotter, military spotter and also learned to be a search coordinator.

“Once you become a pilot and you see how easily incidents can occur, it’s wonderful to know that there’s a network of individuals  – volunteer and professional – that are trained properly to come to those rescues, should incidents happen,” said Nordstrom.