Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador

History

Gander was chosen for the construction of an airport in 1935 because of its location close to the northeast tip of the North American continent. In 1936, construction of the base began, and the town started to develop. On January 11, 1938, Captain Douglas Fraser made the first landing at "Newfoundland Airport", now known as Gander International Airport, or "CYQX", in a single-engine biplane, Fox Moth VO-ADE.

During the Second World War, as many as 10,000 Canadian, British and American military personnel resided in Gander. The area became a strategic post for the Royal Air Force Air Ferry Command, with approximately 20,000 American- and Canadian-built fighters and bombers stopping at Gander en route to Europe. After the war, the airbase became a civilian airport, and the location of the town was moved a safe distance from the runways. Construction of the present town site began in the 1950s, and the present municipality was incorporated in 1958; the settlement around the airport was eventually abandoned.

After the Second World War, the town grew as the airport was used as a refuelling stop for transatlantic flights, earning its name "Cross-roads of the world". Efforts have been made to diversify the economy from being dependent on the airport, particularly as new aircraft designs permitted longer-range flights without the need for landing to refuel.

Gander was the site of a major aircraft accident, Arrow Air Flight 1285, on December 12, 1985. 256 people were killed in the disaster, making it the deadliest air crash to happen in Canada.

In 2001, Gander International Airport played an integral role in world aviation in the hours immediately following the September 11 attacks when all of North America's airspace was closed by Transport Canada and the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). As part of Operation Yellow Ribbon, 38 civilian and 4 military flights bound for the United States were ordered to land at the airport—more flights than any Canadian airport other than Halifax International. More than 6,600 passengers and airline crew members, equivalent to 66 percent of the local population—third highest number of passengers, behind Vancouver International, which received 8,500, and Halifax—found themselves forced to stay in the Gander area for up to six days until airspace was reopened and flights resumed. Residents of Gander and surrounding communities volunteered to house, feed, and entertain the travellers in what became known as Operation Yellow Ribbon. This was largely because Transport Canada and Nav Canada asked that transatlantic flights avoid major airports in central Canada, such as Toronto Pearson International Airport and Montréal-Dorval.

Lufthansa named one of its Airbus A340 aircraft Gander/Halifax to thank both cities for their handling of rerouted travellers on September 11. In addition, a book called The Day The World Came to Town was published by Reagan Books, and several stories and segments about Gander's role during that and subsequent days have been featured on various educational and news programs. A radio play, The Day the Planes Came by Caroline and David Stafford, dealt with the effect on Gander of the September 11 passengers. The play was first broadcast in June 2008 on BBC Radio 4, and was repeated in October 2009. A TV movie, Diverted, was made in 2009. In February 2010, NBC aired a report by Tom Brokaw on Gander's role in the displacement of hundreds of planes on 9/11 during their coverage of the Olympic Games in Vancouver. The broadcast showed the generosity and warm-heartedness of the town as it helped each passenger on that day. In 2015, Come From Away, a musical play by Irene Sankoff and David Hein based on the events in Gander on and after September 11, was first performed as a co-production of La Jolla Playhouse and Seattle Repertory Theatre. The world premiere performance occurred at La Jolla Playhouse on May 29, 2015. In October, 2016, The production was shown in Gander.

The Town of Gander continues to play an important role in aerospace and Gander has retained an experienced United States Representative to attract and retain valid business opportunities in the aerospace industry.

In May 2007, MoneySense ranked Gander as the 10th best place to live in Canada. The magazine ranked communities strictly using 12 measurable factors including weather, real estate values, income levels, unemployment rates, discretionary income, murder rates and signs of prosperity such as the percentage of late-model vehicles.

Geography

Gander is located 210 kilometres (130 mi) northwest of the provincial capital of St. John's, and about 600 miles (970 km) northeast of Boston.

Demographics

According to Statistics Canada 2011 census, the current population of the town of Gander is 11,054, an 11.1% increase from 2006. There are a total of 4,751 private dwellings and the town's total area is 104.25 km² (40.25 sq mi), with a population density of 106.0/km² (275/sq mi).

Climate

Gander has a cool to cold humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification (dfb). It combines moderately warm and rainy summers with cold and very snowy winters. Due to the maritime influence from the Atlantic Ocean, seasonal changes are slightly less pronounced than in Canada's interior, but still substantial given its near-coastal position.

Services

Gander offers all the conveniences of a major centre. The newest development is a continually-expanding business park with big box stores such as Walmart and Kent Building Supplies. There are two malls: the Gander Mall, with stores such as Canadian Tire, SportChek, Dollarama, Claire's, Pseudio, Eclipse, and Nan's Pantry and the Fraser Mall with a Foodland (Sobey's), and various government offices. Town Square at the intersection of Elizabeth Drive and Airport Boulevard has several local businesses, including Riff's, and a Co-op grocery store.

All five major Canadian banks have branches in Gander. TD Canada Trust and RBC Royal Bank are located in Town Square, CIBC at the Fraser Mall, as well as Bank of Montreal and Scotiabank on Airport Boulevard and Roe Avenue, respectively. There are two credit unions Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Union and Hamilton Sound Credit Union both on Roe Avenue.

Medical services are provided by the James Paton Memorial Health Centre, on the Trans-Canada Highway. The hospital opened in May 1964 and has undergone many changes since then, making it a prominent hospital in the central region. The hospital has a rated beds capacity of 92.

Telephone services are provided by Bell Aliant, formerly NewTel Communications. Bell Aliant also provides DSL high-speed internet service and FibreOp high-speed internet. Rogers Communications is the cable TV and cable internet provider for the town. Cellular phone service is also available through Telus, its subsidiary Koodo, and Bell's Virgin Mobile.

The Gander Public Library is currently located at 6 Bell Place as of 1987.

Planetary nomenclature

In 1991, the International Astronomical Union's Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (IAU/WGPSN) officially named a crater on Mars after Gander. Gander Crater lies at latitude 31.5° south, longitude 265.9° west; its diameter is 38 kilometres.

Public parks, walking and ski trails