Wick Brownies help transatlantic paper aeroplane exchange to take off
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A GROUP of Brownies from Wick showed they were high-flyers as they got involved in a transatlantic art project with an aviation theme.
Dunnet-based artist Joanne B Kaar is organising a paper aeroplane exchange linking heritage groups in Caithness and north Sutherland with like-minded organisations in Newfoundland, Canada.
The project was inspired by a daring Atlantic flight just over a century ago and will culminate in simultaneous exhibitions in Newfoundland and Wick early next year.
Joanne enlisted the help of the 2nd Wick Brownies while they were visiting Wick Heritage Museum last Thursday night. As well as being given a tour of the museum by Wick Society volunteers, the girls took part in a fun workshop led by Joanne.
They created colourful paper planes and, using sets of felt pens, personalised them with their names and their own unique designs.
The planes will be winging their way – by post – across the ocean to Trinity Historical Society, then on to the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Wick Society, Castlehill Heritage Centre and Strathnaver Museum are all taking part, along with three heritage groups in Newfoundland.
Exhibitions showcasing work from each side of the exchange will open on the same day – February 14, 2020 – in Newfoundland and at the Nucleus archive in Wick. It will run for a week.
The idea came about when, in May this year, Joanne spotted an article in the John O’Groat Journal about intrepid airmen Harry Hawker and Kenneth Mackenzie Grieve. They took off from Newfoundland in May 1919 in a Sopwith biplane, attempting to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight.
It’s making connections through history, celebrating an event from 100 years ago.
After being blown off course by storms, the two pioneers ditched the plane into the Atlantic and were picked up from the water by a Danish freighter some 750 miles from the coast of Ireland. The pair were eventually landed at Scrabster where they were greeted by cheering crowds.
Outlining the idea behind the exchange, Joanne said: “It’s making connections through history, celebrating an event from 100 years ago when these two men tried and failed but were brought ashore at Scrabster, and connecting the two locations from that journey.”
At the end of their visit, the 2nd Wick Brownies presented a cheque for £500 to the museum. Leader Andrea MacGregor explained that the money had been raised by a sponsored walk around Pulteneytown.
Nine-year-old Zoe Mackay handed over the cheque to Wick Society volunteer Doreen Leith.
Doreen said: "We are delighted to receive this £500 donation from the 2nd Wick Brownies. It is a wonderful gesture. The girls, their leaders and their families will always be welcome at the museum."
Ideas lift off for paper aeroplane exchange
