Massachusetts
Massachusetts Airfield Believes in the Power of Family and Community – FLYING Magazine
“Airports are notoriously unhealthy about telling the story of the advantages they supply to the local people,” famous Don McPherson, the proprietor of Minute Man Air Area (6B6). Minute Man is an exception to this common rule and has repeatedly informed its story far and broad.
The Stow, Massachusetts-based airport started in 1966 when Don’s father, Paul, “…purchased the property, after he had achieved his life-long purpose of studying to fly and proudly owning his personal aircraft.
“He purchased a Cessna 182 and rebuilt a Piper Cub,” Don mentioned. “Constructing and working the airport was a household operation from the beginning; it was additionally a interest for dad.
“We’d come out on weekends largely [to help]. We’d exit to the location within the morning to work after which go dwelling at lunch to look at Candlepin bowling each Saturday; the explanation was my mother was a champion bowler. After which we’d return to work after lunch. This stored the household collectively; it was very nice.”
And whereas Don has fond recollections of the work within the early days, some duties had been extra gratifying than others.
“Dad couldn’t afford to purchase crushed gravel for the runway,” he mentioned, “so he shopped round and located sand pits that had one of the best gravel. He would then run the street grader up and down the runway. My job was to stroll behind the street grater and choose up over-sized stones; that was how I began.
“After [doing that] there was no place however up within the airport enterprise!”
By means of the household’s exhausting work, the previous 1,700-foot grass Erikson Area was paved and prolonged by 300 toes. What’s as we speak referred to as Minute Man Air Area—named after the realm’s wealthy historical past throughout The American Revolution—was unveiled on July 1, 1969.
One of many earliest companies that known as Minute Man dwelling was “Peg’s Place,” a small espresso store run by Don’s mother and sister. The flexibility to have her personal espresso store on the airport so she may share her husband’s flying ardour was a key motive why Peg (a non-pilot) was onboard together with her husband buying an airport.
However sadly, solely three years after Minute Man was opened to the general public, Paul was concerned in a deadly airplane accident. His demise left his widow disinterested in persevering with the airport’s operations, so Don took over the airport. He has managed each its every day and strategic operations since 1972.
Right this moment, Minute Man Air Area:
- Has a 3,110 ft by 48 ft asphalt runway (3/21) and a 1,600 ft by 40 ft turf runway (12/30)
- Is dwelling to 68 plane
- Is ranked sixth within the state of Massachusetts when it comes to financial influence for common aviation airports at $25.8 million per yr
These sides are nice examples of Don’s purpose for Minute Man Air Area of “boosting the financial system, serving the group, and nurturing the atmosphere.”
Don’s Spouse Will get Concerned
One of many airport’s most impactful companies is the on-property restaurant. Nancy’s Air Area Cafe has been owned and run by Don’s spouse Nancy since 1977. The farm-to-table eatery has been greater than a spot to fly in for a “$100” bowl of New England clam chowder or lamb burger and Belgian fries.
Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic had an hostile influence upon the restaurant, it had a silver lining as nicely. By having closed the previous two winters, Nancy has been capable of start flying extra continuously, exercising her aviating expertise.
Don is grateful for the additional assist. Along with her long-standing position as “Load Grasp,” Nancy is now FO (first officer) and shares the flying load of their 1965 Piper Cherokee Six. By means of their travels, he’s discovered that her “notoriety has unfold far.” Folks they’ve lately met, even so far as Florida and Nantucket, have instantly acknowledged Nancy because the particular person whose restaurant bears her title.
And for individuals who have had the fortune of working into the couple, who can usually be noticed collectively on the airfield, they shortly see how the 2 run their companies.
“We’re fond of claiming that we don’t actually have a job. We prefer to say that we host a celebration on daily basis,” Don mentioned. “That’s our modus operandi, within the restaurant and on the ramp on the airport. We continuously are doing what you’ll do should you had a celebration at your own home. You invite mates to come back to a celebration, and so they all don’t know one another. So, what do you and your spouse do? You introduce them to one another. Isn’t that your job as a number?”
This act of introduction, whether or not formal or casual, within the restaurant or on the gas pumps, is a vital side of the success of Minute Man Air Area. Don feels that the airport has cultivated an atmosphere that brings individuals collectively, pilots and non-pilots alike. The extent of help and friendliness that Don, Nancy, and others have created has been integral in drawing in these with out aviation expertise to the airport. A few of these guests have grow to be pilots, after speaking to native pilots.
Even because the McPhersons have reached retirement age, when others might start slowing down, they’re nonetheless actively concerned in every day operations of the airport and restaurant. One good thing about all of the years of exhausting work although is that they’ve attracted and employed like-minded individuals and may largely handle the companies ‘remotely’ whereas on the street (or within the air).
However as he acknowledged their continued curiosity in working the airport, Don was additionally fast to notice that its future is all the time high of thoughts. “Up till about 5 years in the past or so, we hadn’t thought a lot about the way forward for Minute Man Air Area.”
Fortunately, as a result of the airport accepted federal and state funds in years previous, he’s “…nearly one hundred pc certain” that it’ll survive as an airport after their custodianship. If somebody buys the airport and needs to show it right into a subdivision or industrial park, for instance, they’ll pay the worth of the property as valued, plus an extra 90 p.c of that worth again to the federal government.
This surety has been the byproduct of the couple’s latest in depth efforts into excited about the airport’s subsequent custodians and its subsequent 56 years of operations.
Whereas not marketed as pertinent to ongoing airport operations, three years in the past, Don—who can also be a farmer—signed up for a farmland succession class.
“Farms are very very like airports,” Don mentioned. “They each personal a number of acreage with excessive growth potential and comparatively low earnings.”
One of the crucial poignant questions requested through the seminar that actually received Don considering was, “Who’s going to farm your land while you retire or die?” Or on this case, “Who’s going to run your airport while you retire or die?
Guided by these and different difficult questions, the announcement for Minute Man Air Area’s tentative subsequent chapter was introduced in April 2019. “It’s no secret that now we have marketed that the airport is on the market,” Don mentioned. “We now have long-term trusted workers and it runs itself. In fact, there are some issues that solely I can do, however these are few and much between.
“I don’t see myself as somebody who will retire, since I by no means actually had a job; I’m solely internet hosting a celebration on daily basis and see myself doing this for the foreseeable future.”
Massachusetts
California man charged with threatening to ‘shoot up’ Massachusetts businesses in explicit voicemails
A California man is charged with threatening to shoot up Massachusetts companies over five extremely explicit phone calls.
Subscribe to continue reading this article.
Already subscribed? To login in, click here.
Originally Published:
Massachusetts
Treasure mystery: Who found the gold statue in Mass. woods — and who gets the bounty?
We now know the identity of the clever treasure hunter who tracked down a gold statue worth more than $25,000 — though whether he gets to keep tens of thousands more in bounty money apparently remains up in the air.
Dan Leonard, a meteorologist in Andover, Massachusetts, was identified as the winner, not by the founders of Project Skydrop, but by NBC affiliate News Center Maine, which actually introduced Leonard and the people whose puzzle he solved in the woods of Wendell State Forest.
Leonard described the moment to founders Jason Rohrer and Tom Bailey like this: “I’m kind of in disbelief that this is happening. I see the camera so expertly hidden in that stump, and I think, ‘Oh my god.’”
The digital treasure hunt for the gold statue whose value was appraised at $26,536.25 sparked widespread speculation from puzzle enthusiasts and more. The founders created clues to make the search hard, but not too hard, specifying an area where the 10-ounce, 24-karat gold statue could be that shrank every day. People could also pay $20 to receive a daily clue, which helped fund the bounty.
People are searching for a golden statue worth more than $25,000.
The circle was centered roughly on Greenfield, Massachusetts, north along the Connecticut River from Springfield.
The person who tracked the statue down was seen on cameras grabbing the puzzle off the floor, but the Skydrop organizers didn’t hear from him until News Center Maine reached out. Leonard explained that he narrowed down where the treasure could be based on the temperature recorded in the camera, plus the cloud cover and plant life seen in the stream.
When they did meet, Leonard learned there was a catch to claiming the bounty, as News Center Maine reported: the prize could only be accessed by solving clues written onto the trophy itself, which technically meant that anyone with access to the statue could crack the code and claim the money.
Leonard was surprised, but not particularly bothered, saying, “Let’s say I don’t get it: I still had a really good time and got a treasure out of it.”
Rohrer shared more about the circumstances around Leonard’s victory in a message to the game’s official Discord server, a social media chat site where players were able to get more information about what happened.
The winner’s name is Dan Leonard. A news channel up in Maine figured out who he was, based on their meteorologist connections. They connected us with him, and we got to talk to him on camera yesterday. That encounter should appear on the news soon.
Dan joined Project Skydrop for $20 on October 25. He explained how he solved it. Along with weather patterns, temperature data, and cloud cover stuff from the trail cameras, he also depended heavily on the aerial image clues. He said it would have been impossible to solve if:
- He had no aerial clues
or - We had cropped the temperature sensor data off the camera images.
The aerial clues helped him in two ways. First, they showed him that the treasure was in a large, deciduous beech grove, and there aren’t many large beech groves in the Erving area. Second, they showed him a “map” of what the scene looked like around the treasure (the logs, etc.)
He never had an exact GPS coordinate figured out. He was simply walking the (few) large beech groves in Wendell, looking for the distinctive logs that he saw in the clues.
The temperature sensor data and weather patterns just helped him narrow down the area.
Also, he actually stared right at the treasure and didn’t see it. He walked away, thinking he had found the wrong logs. He was about to leave (he walked off-camera for 1 min and 30 seconds), and then he came back to take one more look, because those logs looked like such a close match. Then, staring at the leaves in the spot he had already checked, he suddenly saw that the treasure was there after all. He said it was almost impossible to see.
Massachusetts
Why Massachusetts loves Nibi the beaver and is fighting to keep her out of the wild
There comes a time in every young beaver’s life when they decide to branch out and leave their parents’ lodge to build their own home.
For Nibi, Massachusetts “diva” beaver, it’s a bit more complicated than that. And in the end, the governor of Massachusetts had to get involved.
Nibi was just a baby when she was abandoned and discovered on the side of the road about a few years ago. She was saved and cared for by Newhouse Wildlife Rescue in Chelmsford, northwest of Boston. That’s how the public was introduced to and fell in love with the beaver, known for its round furry frame, tiny paws and mischievous smile.
Rescuers have referred to Nibi as a “diva” because of her confidence and how she has misbehaved in the past when she did not get things her way.
Nibi, now 2 years old, is roughly the age when wild beavers embark on their journey to find a mate and build a home. Over this past summer, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), a state division, said it was time for Nibi to do the same, according to court documents.
But Nibi’s rescuers disagreed — arguing that the beaver was far from ready to live on her own without human intervention, and warned that her chance of survival would be low in the wild, court documents read.
Newhouse Wildlife Rescue cited beaver ecology expert Glynnis Hood, who speculated that if Nibi is released in October, she would be ill-prepared for the winter and likely experience starvation and hypothermia.
The disagreement ultimately went through state courts. It also amassed 29,000 signatures on an online petition advocating for Nibi to remain at the rescue center.
On Thursday, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey entered the debate, announcing that she sided with Newhouse Wildlife Rescue and would issue a permit for Nibi’s stay as an education beaver.
“Nibi has captured the hearts of many of our residents, mine included,” Healey said in a statement. “I’m happy to report that we have issued a permit for Nibi to remain at a wildlife rescue as an educational beaver and inspire folks to protect our natural world.”
Newhouse Wildlife Rescue applauded the governor’s decision and thanked the overwhelming support from Nibi fans.
“This was not about making a wild animal a pet. That’s so far from what happened here and was never the goal,” the group wrote on Facebook. “This was about speaking for a creature who could not speak for herself. This was about righting a wrong.”
MassWildlife told the Associated Press that the state division is “committed to protecting the well-being of all wildlife, including Nibi the beaver,” adding that agency officials plan to “work with Newhouse Wildlife Rescue on the best steps forward.”
Beavers are common and plentiful throughout Massachusetts. They play a vital role in the state’s ecosystems by damming rivers and streams and forming shallow ponds.
In court documents, Newhouse Wildlife Rescue said they tried several times to introduce Nibi into the wild, but given that she was so young when she was found, she appeared to have no instincts on how to hunt for food on her own. “She also refused to integrate with other beavers on more than occasion,” court documents read.
The group said they plan to continue training Nibi so she could eventually be released into the wild.
-
Technology4 days ago
Charter will offer Peacock for free with some cable subscriptions next year
-
World3 days ago
Ukrainian stronghold Vuhledar falls to Russian offensive after two years of bombardment
-
World3 days ago
WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange says he pleaded ‘guilty to journalism’ in order to be freed
-
Technology2 days ago
Beware of fraudsters posing as government officials trying to steal your cash
-
Virginia4 days ago
Status for Daniels and Green still uncertain for this week against Virginia Tech; Reuben done for season
-
Sports1 day ago
Freddie Freeman says his ankle sprain is worst injury he's ever tried to play through
-
Health18 hours ago
Health, happiness and helping others are vital parts of free and responsible society, Founding Fathers taught
-
News19 hours ago
Lebanon says 50 medics killed in past three days as Israel extends its bombardment