Ashley Bochek
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The World-Spectator
During the Moosomin Chamber of Commerce Parade weekend, a large number of restored vintage snow planes will be meeting at the Moosomin Museum grounds.
“Everything is actually coming together really well as it gets closer. For the first couple months this year, I really didn’t bug a lot of people. But as the excitement is building up, now I have people saying, ‘Yep, we’re definitely going to be there.’ We’ve got people coming from Wisconsin, North Dakota, Manitoba, Alberta, so there’s six or eight machines for sure coming. There could be up to fifteen if all goes well,” said Lisl Gunderman, organizer of the snow plane meet.
“There’s people bringing vintage snowmobiles as well. It’s kind of being shared as a gathering of winter transportation in general to attract as many machines as possible. I think our range right now is eight to fifteen vintage winter machines.”
Darrell Hunter and Gunderman have been at the forefront of snow plane restoration, and have been touring across Canada with their machine and mini-museum.
“In the parade, we’ll have the dignitaries at the front, then we’ll have the snow planes. Then on the Friday evening, we’re going to have a gathering of the machines on the Moosomin Museum grounds. If the Museum can get volunteers, we could have tours of their buildings as well. It will be very casual, we’ll order pizza and hang out. Anyone that would like to have a closer look at the machines can come to see them. We’re hoping to stay there overnight and have a bit of time Saturday morning, too,” Gunderman said.
Hunter said that the concept of a snow plane gathering isn’t a new one, and that they were a regular winter event years ago.
“The whole idea of a snow plane meet, it has historic origins. In the past they would have had these snow plane rallies, as they called them. They would bring in a bunch of machines and have a early show and shine type of gathering at John Deer. With all the goings on in Moosomin that weekend, it fits in with the theme of the parade,” he said.
“The parade was really the seed of the idea, and it grew from there. We think that this will be the first ever summertime snow plane rally in Canada. Back in the day Moosomin was the hot spot for the meets, and now there will be one all these years later in the summer. We’re super excited for it.”
There will be a number of snow planes from across the country, but there will be a few machines that won’t be far from their home location.
“We have a snow plane from the Rocanville Museum that was in those meets all those years ago, so that will be really cool to have a local one from just down the road in town that day. We’ve got some coming from Ontario, and Alberta, and even the states that are identical sister machines to the local ones in town,” said Hunter.
Robert Fudge was the first developer of snow planes in Moosomin in 1929. His son will be the dignitary at the front of the parade.
“We’ve had a few people that when they’re told the son of Robert Fudge is coming, they really want to be a part of it. It’s almost a commemorative event, and they want to make an effort to be here,” Gunderman explained.
Attention for the event has been gained from word of mouth, and online through social media.
“It’s been really cool to see the excitement and the anticipation building for the event. People are sharing our Facebook posts and were starting to get more and more traction.”
The two say that restoring snow planes started as a passion project, and that where they are today wasn’t a thought at all when they began.
“We really had no idea that restoring old snow planes would lead to something as big as this. People ask us why we do this, and we honestly don’t really know the answer. It started as one little thing, then another, and now we are traveling with the snowplane all over.
“It really originates from some of our values. We love history and we want to educate people about that history. Hands-on work is also a big part of Daryl’s life, and so little seeds like that in our background is why we do it. Those are the kinds of things that put us on this unexpected trail,” said Gunderman.
Previously, their mini-museum trailer was mostly written history, but Hunter and Gunderman changed things up when they realized that they could teach and explain most of the information themselves.
“It’s become a real passion of ours, even the museum. When we realized, after seeing all these people last year, how we could educate people about all this more easily, we took it all apart and rebuilt it.
“Lisl is a master teacher, so we changed everything around, and I think we really nailed it. Now, everyone who pays a visit to the trailer can get something new out of it, whether they’re a really young kid, or have never even heard of snow planes, they can learn something new,” Hunter said.
Gunderman said that one of their favorite parts of touring with the snow plane is finding people who have memories of when they were still widely used.
“There’s also kind of a full circle part to it. Coming from the teaching side, you assume you’re going to have to educate everyone on this topic and these snowplanes. But there is a demographic of people who have lived experience and have memories of these machines. We’ll meet people in their nineties that remember way back and have stories of their own to share. When that happens I go from teacher to listener and learn something new myself.”
They said that the snow planes had a role in that time that only they could fill. Snow planes were vital in reaching places that could become isolated in the snowy winter.
“There are so many different parts of that era to learn about. It’s how people struggled to get around in the deep snow and ice. It’s the ingenuity of Robert Fudge and how he started with selling farm equipment. It’s how snow planes were used so that doctors and RCMP could get out to help people through the snow.
“There was one story I’ll never forget. It was a gentleman from Alameda, and he said that Doc Galloway came in a snow plane and saved his life when he was a kid. It shows that the snow planes really did make an impact and helped people like Doc Galloway get to those in need.”
Snow planes had a very practical use before roads could be used year-round.
“We always thought when we first started restoring the machines that they were used sparingly to get over bad roads in the winter, but we’ve had older folks tell us otherwise. They said that there we really no roads here back then, and that most land wasn’t fenced in unless it was cattle range. It was all open land. Today we travel so easily in cars and trucks, but back then during the winter it could be a struggle. People that lived on farms could become isolated, and the snow planes bridged that gap in transportation between the horse and sleigh and modern roads that could be cleared.
“The grader didn’t really come around until the late 1940s, and so before then the roads were dangerous to use in the winter because they couldn’t be cleared of snow and ice at all. We think it’s important to educate people on how much engineering and troubleshooting it takes to get to where we are today.”
Hunter says that they have been doing their best to build up support and get people out for the big day on their social media.
“We’re beyond excited for this weekend. We can’t wait. We have a lot of people on Facebook right now saying that they cannot wait to be there and see everything that’s going to be there on the weekend. Every other day or daily if I can, I’m trying to post something new about the weekend.We’ve been using social media a lot more to promote the snow planes and the events we go to. We have a YouTube channel and an Instagram page as well. One thing I’d love is to get into more is posting about how I restore the machines, and how you can do it as well. We’re excited that we’ve been able to attract a diverse group of people to come out for the weekend.”
They two said that they are happy to see many people with personal stories and connections coming out that day.
“We’re super happy that we have lots of people with family connections hoping to come out that day too. The Fudge shop employed many locals when it was still running, and there are many people from the area that have family connections to the history that will be on display.”
The Museum grounds will be the site of the meet, and Hunter and Gunderman want people to take time to look there as well as at the snow planes.
“One thing we really encourage people to do is to check out the Moosomin Regional Museum. There are so many great pieces of history there and the people are wonderful. We’re working hard to try and raise some money for them, and keep it thriving and growing. A lot of local museums are struggling to keep the lights on, but Moosomin’s has a great committee of volunteers that do great work and are really on the ball.”
