These are the most glamorous pictures I've ever seen of my mom, whose beauty routine never went beyond lipstick as far as I know. She was crowned "Queen of the Saskatchewan Flying Farmers" in 1959 and rose radiantly to the occasion in these photos.
I'm sure the journalist at The Leader Post in 1959 was the only person who ever referred to her as an "aviatrix", but I like the word.
Our mom usually co-piloted with our dad in their 4-seater Cessna, but I remember her telling me one day as I went off to Central School, that she was flying to Rosetown to have coffee with her friend Blanche, and she would be home when I got home from school. It seemed quite normal to me at the time. Didn’t all moms do that?
As far as being a nurse, her career was over before it started. Upon graduating as a Registered Nurse in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, she met a handsome young man named Paul Nodge. After a whirlwind courtship they were married in 1940
Most Flying Farmer events were family affairs they called "fly-ins" held across Canada and the States. As children we attended many and enjoyed the potluck dinners and kids' activities, but I don't remember being at the elegant get-togethers shown here, where farm women became queens.
I asked my mom why she was chosen to be the queen in 1959 and she said "Well, we all took turns and it was my turn."
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