Trisha Cornforth, German news reporter for "Der Kanadier" newspaper as well as for CFN/RFC radio and television, from the end of 1978 to the end of May 1994 The original "Der Kanadier " was the weekly newspaper for the Canadian Forces in Europe. It was published in Lahr in the Black Forest, Germany, from 1 July 1970 until 25 May 1994, i.e. until just before Canadian Forces Base Lahr closed down in mid-August 1994.

Der Kanadier and a suggested reunion 2004
First of all, we present our apologies because the last editorial page was on view for such a long time! We are all volunteers and are also kept busy doing all kinds of other things, so please have patience! We have slightly reduced the size of the print here, as it seemed to be too large for some of your screens; please let us know if any further adjustments need to be made.
Thank you to all those who commented on our suggestion of a reunion in Lahr and Baden-Soellingen. We are now looking into the more practical aspects of organizing a long weekend get-together in July 2004. Are there any members of the Baden Rube Band out there who could come along for the occasion, or any other special interest groups who'd also like to get involved?

Lahr and Baden airport companies sold
In the last few weeks many changes have taken place concerning the facilities formerly used by the Canadian Forces.

Baden Airpark had gone bankrupt, not because of its chartered passenger flights to European holiday resorts, but due to various corruption scandals, including money-laundering by its main financial backers (the whole story has not yet come to light, as the police investigation is still going on). In January the provincial government of Baden-Württemberg then decided to let its own Stuttgart Airport take over Baden Airpark management instead of allowing it to be sold to the Wiggins Group, a British organization run from Manston airfield in Kent, S-E. England.

On 8 February, there was great tension when the shareholders of the Lahr Airport Company, a consortium of local businessmen under the chairmanship of Martin Herrenknecht, met to decide the future of the commercial airport which had still not become viable, due a mixture of disinterest, local opposition to aircraft noise, bureaucratic problems and personal quarrels. Among the open options were: purchasing by Wiggins (as above) or by Ryan Air, an Irish airline specializing in cheap passenger flights between European destinations.

This time it was Wiggins who won out, mainly because of its interest in air freight - at the end of last year Lahr Airport Company had finally managed to obtain an official air transport licence without night-time flights, despite protests from surrounding communities. Wiggins has agreed to pay about DM 5 million for about 75 per cent of the shares in the Lahr Flugplatz GmbH. (The actual runway, taxi-way and hangar still belong to NATO for emergency use if necessary).

Now it's up to the Wiggins Group to try and get Lahr Airport off the ground commercially!

We'll keep you posted on their progress...

Other sales that have finally been recently negotiated are those of the Kaserne area and of the former Canadian Community Centre with the Astra cinema. We'll report in detail at a later date.