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Times Advocate, 1997-07-16, Page 14Centralia Flying Club ge ts off the ground Bird's eye view. The control tower is an excellent airport observation area. The new flying club hopes to ;lease and renovate. the control:tower as a lounge At left, Gary Wilson (left) and Mike Ondrejicka are spearheading - the efforts to establish the Centralia ) tying ' Club at th.e 'Centralia/Huron Airpark. By Kate Monk T -A Reporter HURON PARK - Flying at Centralia/Huron Airpark has risen to another level with the formation of the Centralia Flying Club. Twenty-seven people joined the club:at its inaugural meeting on April 28. - According to president Mike Ondrejicka, the main -goal of -the club is to promote recreational flying at Centralia/ -Huron ,. Airpark. "If you come to an airport, you, go flying, you land and - nobody's there, it's boring. But if there's some social part twit, it' makes it more fun," said Ondrejicka. The members are mostlyprivate pilots from the area as well as their families and friends. With a wide variety of backgrounds, the interest in aviation draws the members together. ' First, club members want to -establish a lounge,in the control , tower. This requires a lease which' the club's executive is .. negotiating and some -renovations to the current structure. "We have a bird's eye view of the world from Centralia's point of view from the tower," said Ondrejicka. "A lot of people that comae to Centralia to watch-iirplanes ,already go up into the tower," explained the,club's vice- , president Gary Wilson. _ Ondrejicka says the pilon;' backgrounds and skills can help the club, adding the club members will work .together, to do the - necessary renovations to the tower. The club also hopes to,organize,a 'fly -out' to another airport this summer. • There is np meeting schedule identified at this time although , ...some pilots gather in the control tower on.Friday nights for movies and socializing. , : - Membership fees are $100 a year and $30 a year for students' taking their first licence. People who would like,to join can contact Gary Wilson atAcademy Ai:r Services. 228-7029 or Paul' at.Paul's Flying Services -at 228-6744. • pig increase in airport usage Centralia/Huron Airpark usage has increased more; than 400 per cent in recent years. According to Wilson, a few years ago, . less than 10 pilots used Centralia Airport. The three flying , schools have made a big difference in bringing new blood to the airport. Wilson estimates there are currently 35 tie -downs and 40-50 pilots at the.airport. Another factor is the airport itself which is one of the best around. "It's unquestionably one of the best facilities you'll find. anywhere. It's non -controlled, it has a perfect runway, it's long. It's unequalled for recreational flying. You just can't beat it," said Ondrejicka- Aviation-related industries have also increased activity at the airport and helped the local,economy. - CAP invites you to surf the 'Net EXETER - Afraid of the Internee) CAP can dispel that fear in quick fashion. CAP (Community Access Pro- ject) is an Industry Canada program that has set up Internet access sites. throughout small town Ontario. - "It's a project to encourage rural. communities to get on the Internet." said CAP regional .co-ordinator Ja- son Nakamura. With branches in Exeter. Hensall. Kirkton and Zurich. just about eve- ryone in the T -A readership area can log on at a site in their back- yard. • While . other Ontario CAP pro- grams launched last summer. the Huron County CAP started this summer. Hensall/Exeter CAP instructor Brad Hartman said the Internet pro- vides a bevy of benefits for rural residents including "incredible" re- search tools for any subject, a huge resource centre for small business and entertainment. "The government is starting to put more and more things on-line," Hartman said to underline the im- portance of becoming 'Net savvy. CAP's " 12 Huron County work- ers. all high school students or re- cent graduates.,provide free train= ing and access to the Internet as well as• design web pages for non- profit groups. Cap workers have created ' web . sites for Rural Rc, sponse for Healthy Children, Wom- en Today of Huron County and Maitland Trail Association to name a few. "It's developing an Internet pres- ence for the ' community." Nak- amura said. They - also help businesses de- velop their own web sites, but can't do the job themselves. "We're encouraging small busi- ness to use (the 'Net) as an ad- vertising medium," Nakamura said. Hartman admitted the amount of information available on the 'Net can be a little overwhelming. . "There is a lot of junk on it," he said. "But there is a lot of good stuff too. The .task is just to wade through all the junk to get to the good stuff." Zurich CAP instructor Tina Hoff- man said they've put on a number of evening workshops including Making Money on the Internet and Designing Web Pages and hope to 'do more. "From what i've heard there's a lot of positive feedback," she said of CAP. "People that don't normal- ly have access can get on through this." Exeter CAP co-ordinator Jeff De - Block said surfing the 'Net "is the wave of the future. "We're here to shov. what the In- ternet has to offer." he said sum- ming up their task. About CAP Therc aro CAP branches at the Exeter Library; Huron Employment Resource Centre Exeter, Exeter Olde Town Hall, Hensall Library, Kirkton Library and Zurich Li- brary. • Hours are the respective li- brary or offices normal business hours. •For more information or to book your one hour of free Internet training, call one of the above cen- tres. Kids under age 12 must be ac- companied by an adult and print- outs cost 25¢ per black and white copy and SI for a color copy. 'Net helpers. Community Access Project instructors Laura Jackson, Tina Hoffman, Jeff De - Block, Jason Nakamura and Brad Hartman are at your disposal if you want to learn how to surf the Internet. There are CAP sites in Exeter, Hensall, Zurich and Kirkton. The program lasts until either Labor Day or Oct. 15 depending on whether it gets extra federal dollars.