Rotarians got to take to the skies from the safety of their Monday luncheon on May 4.
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Garth George, owner of Bradley Airspray, was in attendance to talk all things flying farmers.
He was bitten by the flying bug early but quickly realized the military may not be for him.
“I started out in the air force,” he said. “The military wasn’t really for me.”
George found work in Saskatoon with a company called West Wind.
“We flew a lot of dignitaries around,” he explained.
From there, he would land in Toronto with Porter Airlines.
“Flew lots of celebrities around,” said George. “When the leader of the NDP died, Jack Layton, I had to fly (Brian) Mulroney, Gilles Duceppe, Jean Chrétien, all on the same airplane.”
The agriculture call, however, brought him back to Lloydminster. Specifically, a call him his friend, Brad Wright.
“He phoned me up and he’s like, ‘You’ve got to help, we have to get another plane,’ ” said George.
“So, I had to go back to Ag flying. I flew Ag for one year at the start of my career after I said no to the air force.”
According to George, Lloydminster had an issue finding an applicator to operate here before the two eventually filled that void.
Wright’s life would tragically end in an accident.
“He was tragically killed in a crop duster accident two years ago,” said George. “Him and I we’re both flying farmers. We worked together.”
Bradley Airspray has been operating from the Lloydminster airport for two years. George said the city has been great to work with.
“The City of Lloyd has been awesome and the airport has been welcoming,” he said.
He took time from his speech to promote the airport, something he said is a vital piece of the city.
“I’m a big proprietor for the airport, I think it’s important that people know it’s there,” said George. “I want to promote it and help as best as I can with the city because I don’t want to see the airport go away.”
Bradley Airspray tackles spraying fields and helping farmers with their crops.
Something new they’ve delved into is a federal contract, spraying trees ahead of wildfire season.
“We do forestry, so we spray for spruce bugs,” said George. “There’s 70 crop dusters headed to a different province every year. It’s a federal program and we just spray bush because it prevents forest fires.”
He invited everyone to check out the airport and the business.
“We always like having people that come out for a visit, see what we’re about, come out to the airport,” said George.
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