SOSA

President Andrea Kuciak extended a special invitation to our local dignitaries Member of Parliament, Mr. David Sweet and local Councilor Mr. Robert Pasuta to visit SOSA (background below). The last Saturday in October both paid a visit on a blustery afternoon and although the hangars had just closed both Sweet and Pasuta were keen to find out what we were all about. Flying without engines – are you crazy said Pasuta but after touring the planes in the hangars and chatting about silent flight we might have another interested student. We also toured the small hangar and introduced the visitors to Jerzy who showed off his impressive new glider and talked his 4^th place success at the World Championships. The visitors were also given a lot of background of the club, it’s history since 1966 in the community, the programs for instruction including juniors and cadets and the volunteer nature of the club. They were naturally impressed that all of this was going on just in their backyard. We stressed our concern that people in the local Flamborough community were important for us and we are keen to have them visit their local aerodrome, even just to take a look. The visitors were interested in the operation of the club, our members and where they came from, and above all how gliders work. We have been in the background for far too long said Andrea Kuciak and we need to be more a part of the community.

In an effort to reach out to the community SOSA has been offering an invitation to community members to visit SOSA and to take a flight at a 50% discount. This has been appreciated by many. Gliding over community member’s home territory is a real treat.

Thanks to Herrie Ten Cate, Scott McMaster and Paul Fish who toured the visitors around SOSA and answered their questions. At the end of the afternoon there was a new appreciation of activities at SOSA and both expressed thanks. We stressed that all constituents are welcome at SOSA including those who might question our operation.

David Sweet is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale.

Prior to his election to Parliament, David Sweet had a management consulting business for over 20 years, which included training services for a variety of corporate, public and not-for-profit sector clients. In addition, he was Vice President of Business Development for a Canadian, research-based think tank from 2004 to 2006 and served as President of two national not-for-profit organizations in the early years of the decade. MP Sweet continues to be an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys riding his motorcycle during the summer months, swimming and hiking the internationally-acclaimed Dundas Valley trails in his riding. David and his wife, Almut, live in Ancaster with two of their children.

Robert Pasuta is the City of Hamilton Councilor for Ward 14 but he also owns a pig farm on Campbellville Road. He is a father of seven children age 16 to 35 and can focus his attention on the home front. “I’ve got 300 acres of corn, wheat and soybeans to harvest,” said the man who has overseen the affairs of the city’s largest rural ward for the past four years. Back in 2006 he battled for a seat around the Hamilton city council table against Grant Maloney and on election day took the ward with 60 per cent of the votes. “At that time, while I campaigned my dad (Mike) who was in his 80s took care of the livestock and crops.” It meant a lot of driving and walking to cover the sprawling area that drew more than 4,200 voters to the polls in 2006.

While Pasuta was certainly no rookie to politics  – he was president of the Hamilton-Wentworth Federation of Agriculture, past president and Councilor of the Golden Horseshoe Pork Producers, director of the Hamilton-Wentworth Soil and Crop Improvement Association and on the Rockton Agricultural Society board – it was his first time running for city council.

He jokes that he’s gone from one of the most respected professions as a farmer to one of the least respected, as a politician.

He describes the past four years as fun and discouraging. He’s hoping that relations with the new Ward 15 councillor will be co-operative. “I treat people as I want to be treated,” said Pasuta.

For more background on Rob you should read an interesting article in the Spectator