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| Tanner honored for dedication to airport |
By: Kevin Bowden, Special to The Press
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Posted: Friday, July 1, 2011 12:02 pm
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Immediately following the cermony, Tanner (left) was congratulated by U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development state director Bobby Goode (center) and Weakley County Mayor Houston Patrick.
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Former Congressman John Tanner was honored Wednesday by officials at Everett-Stewart Regional Airport who formally recognized him during the dedication of the airport’s new 6,500-foot runway.
The morning ceremony was attended by a large turnout of local and state officials, including state Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division director Bob Woods, U.S. Rural Development Administration state director Bobby Goode, Gibson Electric Membership Corp. president and chief executive officer Dan Rodamaker and Michael Marshall with the Delta Regional Authority.
The ceremony marked the official dedication of the airport’s 1,500-foot runway extension and honored Tanner for his longtime support of airport projects. The program began with a flag ceremony led by recently-appointed Civil Air Patrol cadets Matthew Rego, Auriel Brock, William Thralls and Anthony Clark.
“This is a state-of-the art facility for northwest Tennessee that has enormous potential to help attract industry nationwide and, for that matter, worldwide,” Tanner said in a telephone interview earlier this week. “This airport will now be able to handle 87 percent of cargo aircraft with the new runway and that’s never been present in this part of the state before.”
Tanner was presented a special plaque by airport board chairman Dr. Chris Gooch, and a portrait of Tanner was unveiled during the program. The framed portrait will be hung in the terminal alongside those of the late Congressman Robert A. “Fats” Everett and the late Tom Stewart, for whom the local airport is named.
Wednesday’s ceremony was held under a tent set up at the south end of the runway.
On display under the tent was an image of the new entrance sign to the airport.
The event also spotlighted all the improvements made at the local airport during the past few years.
Gooch told The Messenger Tanner has been “very instrumental” in the airport’s growth. He said the former congressman has been a powerful ally of local airport projects for more than two decades.
Airport Manager Jo Ann Speer described the completion of the airport’s runway extension as “a dream come true.”
“After years of planning, what began as a dream or a vision has become a reality,” she said. “We now offer a 6,500-foot runway with a full ILS (instrument landing system) approach.”
Everett-Stewart Regional Airport now has the longest instrument runway of any general aviation airport in the state outside of Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis, according to Speer.
She ran through a long list of agencies and officials who helped see the runway project to its completion.
“With a project of this magnitude there are so many to thank for their commitment and dedication,” Speer said. “I especially want to thank the honorable John Tanner for his devotion to this area and the airport and for his commitment to the runway extension project.”
Among those who talked to The Messenger about Tanner’s support for the local airport was Martin resident and businessman Ron Cooper, owner of Southern Machinery Repair in Union City.
“When Gov. Phil Bredesen asked me to serve on the state Aeronautics Commission, I told him I would gladly accept but that he should know that several of us in Obion and Weakley counties were planning to try and make Everett-Stewart a regional airport and that we were going to ask for a runway extension. The governor said, ‘That’s fine.’ John Tanner has been talking to me about this very thing.’”
Cooper said he was able to convince Bredesen’s Commissioner of Transportation Gerald Nicely and his fellow board members of the need for the runway extension.
“Congressman Tanner was instrumental in getting a significant federal appropriation to supplement the state money,” Cooper said.
“Most everyone on the aeronautics commission was generally supportive of our efforts. Some of them used to call me ‘Runway Ron’ when I chaired the commission as a joking reference to my continual prodding to get this project approved.
“We were able to make the argument that with the Port at Cates Landing and I-69 in the works and an existing rail system, all we needed was a viable regional airport to complete a transportation component that would make northwest Tennessee a real player in economic development,” he said.
“I was glad to have played a small part in this endeavor. I truly believe this improved airport will pay huge benefits for our area.”
According to Cooper, the real credit for this regional airport goes to Tanner, Bredesen, former state Reps. Phillip Pinion and Judy Barker and the leadership in Obion and Weakley counties.
He was quick to praise Pinion for supporting the local airport during the time he served as chairman of the House Transportation Committee.
“Phillip stood with us all the way,” Cooper said. “Without a doubt he was able to get the state to construct the new access ramp and road currently under construction from Highway 22 to the airport. This is tremendously important to the success of everyone’s overall efforts.”
Cooper also singled out the efforts of Obion County Mayor Benny McGuire, Weakley County Mayor Houston Patrick, Gooch and the other members of the local airport commission.
“This project is truly a testament to what working together can accomplish,” he said.
Kevin Bowden, a staff reporter at The Union City Messenger, may be contacted by e-mail at kmbowden@ucmessenger.com.
WCP 6.30.11
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