THUNDER BAY - Brenda Beaulieu and her team of fellow Wingnuts, believes that women, no matter what age, can do anything. What a better way to prove it than by pulling a 26,000 pound plane down a runway.
“We want to prove that women over 50 are limitless,” she said. “Our oldest member is 78.”
The Wingnuts was one of 15 teams taking part in the third annual Wasaya United Way Plane Pull on Saturday at the Thunder Bay International Airport.
The annual fundraiser supports the Northwestern Ontario Aboriginal Youth Achievement and Recognition Awards and the United Way of Thunder Bay.
Stephanie Noel, United Way of Thunder Bay campaign chair for 2018, said the event is expected to raise more than $20,000 this year.
“It’s very important,” she said. “It’s one of our most important special events. It brings a lot of people out and there is a lot of excitement around it.”
Teams of six to eight people took on the Herculean task of pulling a Goldcorp Dash 8-300 aircraft, weighing approximately 26,327 pounds, across the tarmac for 50 feet.
“It’s incredibly fun, there’s an incredible amount of spirit,” Noel said. “Everybody gets to have a fun time watching each other pull the plane and there is an incredible amount of camaraderie. I think each team feeds off of each other’s excitement. I’m sure it’s challenging.”
It is no easy feat pulling an aircraft with sheer strength alone. For the Wingnuts, getting ready for the pull involved daily visits to the gym and even pulling a jeep for practice. And every team has its own strategy.
“I think the key is pulling in unison, so that is what we really focused on, pulling as a team,” Beaulieu said. “I think we did great. We came into this not really knowing what to expect and it was a huge relief to see that plane move.”
Members of the Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School Thunderhawks had their own strategy for pulling that plane down the runway the fastest, but no one was giving away any hints until it was time to pull.
“We do have a strategy, but we are not going to release it until we show it on the tarmac,” said Roman Munroe.
Whatever the strategy and whatever the time, pulling on that rope is about a lot more than just hoping to see that plane start to inch forward.
“It’s good to help out a charity and this is all for good fun, too,” Munroe said.
“It’s a great charity and helps a lot of good causes in the city,” Beaulieu added.
