“This is a slick field, you have a real sporty field here” July meeting notes

Doug Kimmel gave an excellent talk about the history, present and future of Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois.. Here are his notes from the talk.

H.E. Barber came to Marion in the early 1900’s to run the Marion & Eastern Railroad. He also founded the Egyptian Transportation System a pioneer bus system that later was bought by Greyhound. He also turned his attention to aviation and founded the Universal Aviation flying school.

On May 27, 1928 the first Marion airport was opened on 100 acres on the corner of what was then Route 13 – now Main Street – and Old Creal Springs Road. The Marion Daily Republican reported that several thousand attended the opening, and that, “Crowds poured out to the field from early morning until late at night and several hundred took advantage of the opening for a trip into the skies.”

It was around this time that Fred Valentine learned to fly. He worked for 2 years as a pilot in Columbia, Missouri, until Barber closed Universal Aviation and Valentine returned to Marion in January of 1930 to open Valentine Flying Service.

Four years later in October, 1934 a second dedication took place after federal and state funded improvements had been made at the field.

Valentine once said, “We used to give SO-cent rides to get people interested in flying, and a lot of boys, and girls too, saved their money to take flying lessons. People used to drive out to the field to watch the planes take off and land.”

In March of 1935, famous aviator Amelia Earhart visited the airfield and said to Valentine, “This is a slick field, you have a real sporty field here.”

The demand for more space eventually brought an end to the airport in that location. By 1939, Valentine had bought 180 acres west of Marion at our present site. Later that year with the help of nearby Southern lllinois Normal University he started Civilian Pilot Training for the military. ln April 1944 he moved all operations to the current site and named the airport Macarin; MA for Marion, CA for Carterville, and RIN for Herrin.

In 1946 the Williamson County Airport Authority was formed by vote of the citizens of Williamson County under the lllinois Airport Authorities Act, at which time Valentine sold his investment and transferred ownership to the Authority.

In 1957, Charles Stoker moved up from Metropolis to take over FBO operations as Aeroflite, lnc.