100 years of airmail started in Haileybury
HAILEYBURY - There's one more reason for the area to be proud of its role in the history of Canada.
"This summer is the 100th anniversary of the first airmail delivery in Canada and that actually flew out of Haileybury to Rouyn and we've done up a display case to commemorate that event," explained Haileybury Heritage Museum secretary Sarah Johnston on the first day of the new season at the museum.
Summer students Magalie Malette and Eric Lalande-Belanger will also be on hand this summer to greet visitors to the museum Wednesday to Sunday during the summer from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until August 18.
The summer students are also planning a scavenger hunt called "Journey of the Artifacts".
A yard sale on the museum grounds is also being planned for August 10.
Johnston says visitors to the museum will be able to see a small replica of the first airplane used by Laurentide Air Services for the first Haileybury to Rouyn flight which took place September 11, 1924.
Johnston related that the Laurentide Air Services flew a Curtiss HS-2L flying boat with a wingspan of 74 feet, powered by a single 400 horsepower Liberty engine, piloted by Haileybury resident Byron Broatch.
Previously the flight had been attempted from Angliers, Quebec to Rouyn, but obstructions and shoals on the Angliers waterfront made it too difficult.
Lalande-Belanger, who is pursuing a post-secondary edcuation in Fine Arts, and Malette, who is studying history and communications at Cambrian College and Laurentian University, will be combining their skills this summer to create murals and events for visitors.
Darlene Wroe, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Temiskaming Speaker
