Corman Air Park set for sale

Watch above: After the loss of her husband several years ago, Sandra Rees kept the family business going for as long as she physically could. Now Rees says growth needs to happen at Corman Air Park so she’s selling it to someone who has the energy to get it done. Aaron Streck reports.

SASKATOON – “It’s taken me two years, lots of crying, lots of tears, like I said when you go through all the stuff and the memories, even the airplane, Vern had started that,” said Sandra Rees, president of Corman Air Park.

It’s been almost six years since Rees’ life changed forever. On Aug. 17, 2009, her husband Vern was killed in a flying accident south of Saskatoon.

Since Vern’s death, Sandra has taken the controls at the Corman Air Park. She even took to the sky and learned how to fly.

“I know he’d be (there) when I soloed, he was like yeah … that’s my girl,” said Rees.

After keeping Vern’s legacy alive, she’s now ready to move on, understanding the sky’s the limit for the Corman Air Park.

“This place actually needs to grow and I don’t think I have that energy or ability to do that, I thought ‘OK you need to let go’ and I kept saying it but I wouldn’t take any action because there was a lot of fear,” said Rees.

“It means you have to move on, it means you have to let go.”

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And she’s doing that this weekend by holding an aviation estate sale.

“You can’t go into any city in Canada and buy the airport but here you can, in Saskatoon you can buy the airport,” said Estate Sale Pros owner and operator Brian Lehman.

It’s a massive project, one that Lehman’s been helping with for the past week.

“It’s the kind of thing where you’ve got to be able to look at something and almost read my mind and say we’re going to organize it this way and we’re going to look for the plums amongst all the debris,” said Lehman.

There’s everything aviation from airplanes, to propellers, to the nuts and bolts of an airport up for grabs.

“We’re trying to be fair to what’s here but also trying to be fair to Sandra, we want her to walk away at the end of this four days from now having it 75 to 80 per cent empty,” said Lehman.

The sale hasn’t even started yet and the inquiries have already been coming in from coast to coast. While the sale should fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars, the memories of 12 years at Corman Air Park are priceless.

“He’d be really really proud of me because it takes a very strong person whose lost somebody you’ve loved and to continue on in life,” said Rees.

The four-day sale starts Thursday at noon. Between 5,000 and 10,000 aviation enthusiasts are expected throughout the weekend.

For a look at what’s for sale you can visit Corman Air Park.