This Wing has a prayer — for survival
447 Wing flies under threat of closure despite a long and distinguished history
They sit in the clubhouse in their medal-heavy uniforms and listen, these venerable airmen who once sat in the sky in cockpits and flew.
It’s the big meeting, and they struggle with the words, not because they’re hard of hearing but because the prognosis is hard to hear.
Still, their motto is per ardua ad astra — “through hardship, to the stars.” So they bear up.
Everyone in the room listens — the women (some of them in uniform too), the young — sombrely but with faces set in determination — as the formidable Bill Grahlman, bars on his chest, lays out the Wing’s flight plan. It’s not encouraging but neither is it hopeless.
For one thing, there’s the “find.” The title deed.
Seems the Wing actually owned the building on the airport grounds that they got kicked out of in 2009, after which they moved to the old Lee’s Restaurant, at 3210 Homestead, downtown Mount Hope. They thought they were leasing. The airport razed their building and put in a parking lot for Purolator.
“We have the bill of sale,” says Bill, president of 447 Wing. “For $1,000.”
The Wing’s not sure what this recent discovery (by one of its members) means. Perhaps it’ll leverage some help from the city or from TradePort, the company that manages the airport. If 447 Wing owned the building, how could anyone kick them out?
These days, 447 (City of Hamilton) Wing of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association is looking at every angle — it’s in the dogfight of its life.
The club has a long and distinguished, if sometimes troubled, history dating back to 1962. In that time, 447 Wing has graced this city with a wealth of service — recognition of air veterans, flight training, cadet fundraising — on which you can’t put a price.
But its creditors are putting a price on the Wing’s debt. More than $80,000 to Revenue Canada, much of it penalties. The Wing owes back rent to the landlords of the new clubhouse, on which 447 has done a fantastic reno job.
“We’re at a crossroads,” says Bill. “We may be forced to close.” He’s speaking at a 447 Wing meeting/ news conference last Wednesday, April 10.
There’s so much lore and backstory to this club. The old building it got turned out of was the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan site. Before it became dilapidated, there were dances, good times; the space seemed torn timelessly out of the 1940s.
Someone mentions how the Wing members decorate the graves, each year, of the British airmen buried in Mount Hope.
“If we close,” says Bill, “who’s go- ing to do that? No one. But we plan on sticking around.”
He doesn’t want all this to “end up in a flea market. (All this being the treasury of memorabilia, flags, large model warplanes, photographs and archival material adorning walls and tables.) We’re down on bended knee.”
There are three young fellows at the back.
“This is a great place to come and play pool,” says Mathew Gandin, 15.
“There’s nowhere else,” adds Jacob Bailey, 14.
“People are so nice, and we learn manners,” says Zachary King, 15.
It does other good things. The Wing has raised money for the Bob Kemp Hospice, the food bank, Hamilton Boy Scouts and more than $50,000 for an air cadet building.
No help is forthcoming yet, either from the city or feds. No offers to cover rent or relieve debt penalties, despite bureaucracy being complicit in the Wing’s troubles.
Maybe there were financial stewardship mistakes in the past but the current crew is top notch, with members like Shari Hamilton and Brian McKibbon.
Does the cash-strapped city think it can’t afford to help?
It can’t afford not to. We’ve botched enough. Let’s not lose something so good, so steeped in honour. Last year, 447 (City of Hamilton) was named Best Wing in Ontario AND in the country. We need this wing. To fly. If businesses, individuals and governments can help, call the clubhouse — 289-280-0157.