Pilot and aerobatics performer Capt. Brent Handy and his wife Rebecca were caught by surprise with receiving the Lois Boyle Award for community service, strengthening the bond between 15 Wing and Moose Jaw.
The couple thought they were on hand for a presentation to someone else. Rebecca had just told a friend she didn’t like surprises. But they both agreed this one was cool.
Until his retirement, Brent was a full-time pilot for the RCAF. In both 2015 and 2017, they were instrumental in bringing a much-needed air show to the Moose Jaw region.
Their determination and attention to detail inspired others to sign on and bring the first air show to the Moose Jaw municipal airport in 2015.
With their leadership, a small group of volunteers was inspired and four weeks later Moose Jaw had an air show again. More than $10,000 was raised to help a pre-teen battle cancer.
Two years later they led a second air show to success. Funds raised from the second air show were injected directly to help military and first responders fight PTSD.
In 2018 Brent and Rebecca were instrumental in organizing a gala and air demonstration at the municipal airport to raise funds for research into a cure for cystic fibrosis, working with a local family to make the event an unqualified success. A similar Soar for Cystic Fibrosis was held in May this year with thousands of dollars raised to help with research into the disease.
“I feel blessed to be able to do something I love and it is positive,” said Brent Handy.
“You can tell the character of someone by the work they do when they don’t get anything for it,” commented Col. Denis O’Reilly, 15 Wing Commander. “You didn't have to do what you did.”
Handy retired from the RCAF after 20 years because “I had ticked off all the boxes I wanted to.”
Now the couple and their children will start a two-year sailing adventure in a 42-foot boat from Florida around South America. But he will continue performing at air shows during that period.
Lois Boyle, administrative assistant to Col. O.B. Philp and co-ordinator of the naming contest for the Snowbirds, mentored student pilots and members of the Snowbirds. She became known as “The Mother of the Snowbirds.”
