Gliding through life for the past 50 years

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This article was published 26/06/2017 (3241 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Glen Buhr can’t help but get involved when he belongs to an organization.

“I guess I have a disease called volunteerism,” the 83-year-old Transcona resident says.

From the Transcona Curling Club to the residents’ association at the RV park in southern Texas where he and his wife spend winter, Buhr has volunteered at many places over the years.

He is most passionate about his volunteer work for the Winnipeg Gliding Club. He joined that not-for-profit organization, which is dedicated to the promotion of gliding and soaring, in 1967.

“In those 50 years, about the only time I haven’t been treasurer of the club was when I was president,” Buhr says.

His background as a chartered accountant has made fulfilling the role of treasurer a natural fit.

“It’s all self interest,” Buhr says of why he volunteers. The club operates solely with volunteer labour from its members. “In order for me to be able to glide, I do have to do my share and help.”

Gliders are motorless aircraft that use meteorological phenomena known as thermals in order to maintain and gain height.

Buhr says he has been interested in flying since he was a child.

He recalls what it was like learning to glide.

“It was something I could do quite well fairly quickly,” he says. “The first time the glider was in a thermal and climbing without a motor was my greatest memory of what gliding really is. It seemed miraculous to me, even though I understood the theories.”

Since learning how to glide, Buhr has flown more than 3,000 times. He estimates he was instructing student gliders on 2,000 of those flights.

Some of his favourite gliding experiences have taken place in Invermere, B.C., where he and some friends from the club used to travel.

The challenge of being from the Prairies and flying a glider over the Rocky Mountains made for some memorable moments.

“I had about a 450-kilometre flight one day,” Buhr recalls. “The was exceptional. That’s my longest-ever flight.”

The club operates its own airfield 30 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, near Starbuck. It provides flight training for student members, and owns two two-person gliders, one single-seat glider and two tow planes.

Buhr bought himself his own glider 10 years ago, after surviving an episode of colon cancer. He has a trailer near the airfield and spends every weekend there.

Mike Maskell, a member of the club’s board of directors, praises Buhr’s dedication to the organization.

“Glen’s certainly very knowledgeable about the club and its inner workings,” Maskell says. “He’s a very easy-going guy who is always quick to lend a helping hand.”

When he isn’t gliding, Buhr enjoys spending time with his wife. They have two adult children as well as a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He insists that other than his gliding hobby, his life is pretty low-key.

“You know the stereotypical accountant?” Buhr asks. “That’s what I am, except I happen to be one who goes gliding.”

If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com.