Travel Tracks by Dave Heron

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Look Ma ~ No Wings

We called him “Goofy Freddy”, partially because we were a tough gang of 7 year olds but mostly because Freddy was…….. well, a tad goofy even by 7 year old standards.

While most of us made our way around the neighborhood with coaster bikes assembled from remnants of assorted mechanical parts, Freddy hit the streets running with a brand spanking new CCM one Spring morning to the envy of us all.

You could hear him coming from a block away.
“Look Ma – No Hands” he'd scream just prior to slamming into the side of various parked vehicles and assorted unsuspecting pedestrians.

In addition to being somewhat unbalanced, Freddy just didn't get it when it came to understanding traffic flow.
Needless to say Freddy went through a lot of bicycles and took out more than his fair share of innocent bystanders by the time we lost track of him.

Understandably, Freddy after a short while, had very few takers when he offered rides on the crossbar.
A story hit the headlines the other day that made me think that perhaps Freddy had given up bicycles and had gotten into the airline business.

There's shall we say, a somewhat checkered history of entrepreneurs who feel that there's a fortune to be made in the business of offering cheap flights.

And while there is in fact a fortune to be made in offering and subsequently accepting payment for cheap flights, it's the actual completion of the flying program that's raised the alarm bells over the past few years.
Zoom
FlyGlobespan
Jetsgo
Oasis.
To name but a few.

And like Freddy, there were more than a few casualties from the debris field when things ground to a halt.
Now comes word of a new operation poised to launch this summer over the North Atlantic, a route that has statistically seen more overcapacity and perpetual loss leaders than Dollar Stores in a major city.
To sweeten the pot, the alleged driving force behind this one horse stable is a veteran of one of the previously mentioned operators.
Perfect.

Gives me the same reassurance as a telemarketer trying to convince me he's the best positioned guy to manage my portfolio.

He's got years of experience having previously worked for Bernie Madoff.
But it will be different this time don't ya know?
Where other operators ply their craft through the utilization of modern fuel efficient aircraft which keeps the per seat mile cost down, this operation's going with an aircraft type first introduced in 1983 and discontinued 21 years ago in 1990 after a production run of only 81 aircraft.

Okay - an older, less fuel efficient aircraft requiring 1 additional cockpit crew is bound to cost a bit more to operate.

No problem - add more seats.

Done - where a certain Asian operator squeezes 405 bodies on board their 300 series, this new one's planning on 517 seats to accommodate the Canuck crowd on the 10 hour Vancouver to London flight.
That's like Goofy Freddy putting 4 on the crossbar for a quick jaunt round the block .
I can hardly wait.

The ads will probably start in another month.
"FLY DIRECT FOR LESS - AVOID THE CROWD- BOOK NOW - ONLY $699"
"LIMITED TIME OFFER $499 - INCLUDES A SET OF GHINZOU KNIVES AND A WAM BAM NUT CHOPPER"
"OPERATORS STANDING BY - NOT AVAILABLE THROUGH TRAVEL AGENTS - CALL NOW"

Which will possibly be followed by ads a month later that suggest "due to circumstances beyond our control" and sage advice to contact your credit card company to file a claim for flights purchased but not taken.
The only truly unknown factor here is whether or not Goofy Freddy will dust off his old CCM and come roaring down Airport Road bellowing "LOOK MA - NO WINGS" and finally achieve personal credibility after all these years.

*POSTSCRIPT*
This article was originally published by yours truly on January 25th of this year in a travel trade publication called Open Jaw and was in reaction to a new operation based out of Calgary calling itself 

BRITFLIGHTS.COM

The people behind BRITFLIGHTS.COM were thought to be some of the same ones that had been involved with the now defunct ZOOM Airlines and GO TRAVEL DIRECT.

Needless to say, more than a few industry insiders were a tad skeptical over this newly proposed venture.
As of March 22nd, the notice appearing on their web-site simply states, “It is my regret to inform you that  Britflights Inc. will no longer be operating”.

Wow – who'd have thought?
Other than perhaps Goofy Freddy.

Adios until next time
Dave Heron

Dave Heron is the owner and operator of: Pace Setter Travel & Tours (1995) Inc;

P.O. Box 612, 49 Elizabeth Street, Okotoks.
Tel: 403.938.5454
Toll Free: 1.800.206.7223.
Fax: 403.938.5568
Email:
pacesetter@nucleus.com

Longview School - Let Your Learning Soar

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After having to cancel the Winter Carnival many times over a number of weeks due to extremely cold weather, we had to rush to have the carnival last week when the weather warmed and the strong Chinook winds threatened to melt all the snow. The students, staff and parents had a wonderful time. Students participated in relay races with sleds, treasure hunts for coloured ice blocks buried in the snow as well as building and decorating giant snow castles.

We also had a great turn out to our Eagles Expo: A Celebration of Learning on Tuesday, March 15th. In each homeroom, students shared with their parents portfolios of work and participated in learning and assessment activities. The Leprechaun traps were on display, parents could experience mission impossible in the gym, tour through the library and look at all the new books and have their portraits drawn by the students in the Grade 5/6 class. The Grade 3/4 class had a cultural fair with displays, artifacts, music, art and food from all around the world. There were activities on smart boards in all the classes, literacy tasks and students tried to outsmart their parents in math activities.

During our School Council Meeting later that evening, there was a presentation made by Doug Stevens, FSD Director of Distributed Learning about Students Achieve. At this time, parents received their logins, instructions and assistance in accessing this program. Students Achieve is a web enabled software application designed to provide students and parents with a portal into the classroom and into student learning. The Learner Profile and Student Achieve report on Academic Achievement and the Characteristics of Responsible Learners. Academic Achievement indicates how your child is performing in relation to the course and grade level learner outcomes in the Alberta Program of Studies. The Characteristics of Responsible Learners contribute to the development of your child as a responsible learner and are an integral part of the learning process. The Learner Profile and Student Achieve use categorical grading in reporting student academic achievement. Categorical grading is the best practice of assessment used by educators in describing student's academic achievement. This enables students and parents to clearly see what it takes to be successful. When students can see the target clearly, they are much more likely to reach it. Additionally, the use of rubrics that describe performance also enables students to self-assess and be able to determine the next steps in their learning. We want everyone to be well informed and confident in their understanding of assessment, evaluation and reporting.

A BIG THANK YOU is extended to Legacy Oil and Gas Inc., Turner Valley Field Office and Dave Grenwich, Operation Superintendent, for giving Longview School a donation of $1000.00 in support of our Fine Arts Program which includes art, drama and music. Legacy is committed to assisting communities in areas of need and this very gracious donation was presented to the students, staff and Principal, Mrs. Roberts by Mr. Dan Janicki. This gift is very kind and the thoughtfulness greatly appreciated by all of us at LONGVIEW SCHOOL.

C. Ian McLaren ~ Grade 3 Stories

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Students at C. Ian McLaren in Grade 3 have been working on their story writing. Here are a couple of the stories to share with the readership.

“The Princess” by Jaden
 Lightning crashed and banged as the princess was staring out the castle window with her cat Spice. When all was quiet the princess turned to her pink bed and sat on a pillow. Suddenly a giant lightning bolt crashed into the group outside and it shook the castle! When the lightning bolt was gone there was a cloud of smoke and out stepped a vampire! A maid saw the princess disappear with the vampire! She screamed for the prince to help and he got there in the blink of an eye. The maid pointed to some dark clouds in the sky. They slowly started to move out of the way and there was a dark scary castle. The prince saw the princess being dragged inside. He thought of a way to save the princess. He got his wand out and threw it with all his might, and it hit a sparkling cloud of dust. As the cloud gently floated to the ground his wand flung back and he put it away. He pulled and tugged at the cloud and it made a shiny rope. The prince threw it as hard as he could with all the energy he had left, but it wasn't long enough. So he got his wand and pointed it at some twigs on the ground and they started floating. He dragged the twigs to make magic stairs. He almost got to the top of the castle when his weight made the twigs crumple to the ground! The prince thought that he would never save the princess but he had one more idea. He ran up the wall and started to float. As he was floating he made magic stairs by pointing his wand at the wall and using bricks that came from it. Finally he reached the top of the castle, grabbed the princess and started to run home. As they were running, bats started to chase them. The prince picked up the princess and started running so fast that you could not see his feet. He reached the princess' castle but the door was locked so he looked all around the castle and found a window that he climbed through with the princess. They felt utterly exhausted. He remembered how hard he had tried to save the princess. He felt happy when he saw the princess' smile and he hoped that he would never have to do that again. He decided to go home and practice his spells so he could get better at them in case he needed to save another princess.
The End

“Fred and Susan” by Coulter
Fred and Susan were running. They needed to get to their friend's house as quickly as possible. But they took a wrong turn and they got lost in the woods. They felt scared because they heard crashing sounds in the woods, but they couldn't see what was making the sounds. They tried to find a road so they could get back home to be safe. But they were too deep into the woods and there were no roads. They climbed a tree to try to see something that they recognized. The tree was too prickly and scratched their arms. When they finally got to the top they only saw fog. They could not see the road, which meant that they couldn't get home. They felt sad and cried over and over, but luckily police flew over in a helicopter and found them. They told their dad that they would never go outside without him again. They remembered the crashing sounds in the woods, and how scared they felt from the noises. They hoped they wouldn't get lost in the woods in the first place. They decided to never go out in the woods again without their dad, and they fell asleep in the helicopter.
The End

Longview Link By Chey Nickerson

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Wow what a difference a few weeks make! The warmer weather definitely had people in good spirits. Everywhere I looked I saw people out walking and chatting with neighbours OUTSIDE! We're not fooling ourselves, we knew there was more white stuff but we're happy to see the dirty old snow melting away.
With all the melting a whole new set of problems arise. The garbage hidden beneath the snow over the winter starts peeking through as well as the dog and cat feces from winter. Spring and warmer weather make it imperative to remove this as soon as possible. Please do your best to rid your property, or nearby surroundings of the garbage and mess left from winter. Water is starting to run and rise so be aware of your surroundings if you're out walking.

Sunday April 17th is the EGGstravaganza at 1pm Centennial Park in Longview for all the local children (of all ages) for more information please contact Jenn at 558-0168 or Tracy at 558-0177.

Even though we have been back in the “white of winter” we are all looking forward to the disappearance of the snow and welcoming all the birds and spring signs. The hawks, eagles, even a few brave gophers have made appearances so we shouldn't give up hope just yet. Spring IS coming. It's just testing our patience!

Have a great spring!
Chey

Ecole Percy Pegler - Striving For Excellence Together

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 We at École Percy Pegler School believe we have what it takes to be a responsible learner! We believe that successful students exhibit Confidence, Respect, Citizenship, Independence and Work Habits. Every month, teachers choose students in their classrooms that have been exemplary in their strive for excellence. Two awards are given, one for the most powerful student – the student that has shown evidence of all the characteristics of a responsible learner. A second award(s) is given to those students that have exhibited one or more of the characteristics.

As a part of our Panther Pride celebrations, we also include spirit activities. Our last two Pride/Spirit days have included Twin Day and Crazy Hair Day.

Proud Panthers believe that if a student works hard and embodies these traits, then their academic progress will follow. Congratulations to all of our powerful learners for the month of January and February.