Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador

Gander
Town
Seal Coat of arms
Motto(s):  "Volet Gander"  (Latin) "May Gander soar"
Gander Location of Gander Show map of Newfoundland Gander Gander (Canada) Show map of Canada
Coordinates: 48°57′26″N 54°35′19″W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Newfoundland and Labrador
Census division	Division No. 6, Newfoundland and Labrador
Settled	1936
Incorporated	1958
Government
• Type	Gander Town Council
• Mayor	Percy Farwell [2]
Area  (2021)[3]
• Town	104.53 km^2 (40.36 sq mi)
• Urban	13.64 km^2 (5.27 sq mi)
• Metro	2,412.67 km^2 (931.54 sq mi)
Elevation	128 m (420 ft)
Population  (2021)[3]
• Town	11,880
• Density	113.7/km^2 (294/sq mi)
• Urban	9,918
• Urban density	727.2/km^2 (1,883/sq mi)
• Metro	13,414
• Metro density	5.6/km^2 (15/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−03:30 (NST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−02:30 (NDT)
Postal code span	A1V
Area code	709
Highways	Route 1 (TCH) Route 330
Website	www.gandercanada.com

Gander is a town located in the northeastern part of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately 40 km (25 mi) south of Gander Bay, 100 km (62 mi) south of Twillingate and 90 km (56 mi) east of Grand Falls-Windsor. Located on the northeastern shore of Gander Lake, it is the site of Gander International Airport, once an important refuelling stop for transatlantic aircraft. The airport is still a preferred emergency landing point for aircraft facing on-board medical or security issues.

When the U.S. closed its airspace after the September 11 attacks, Gander International Airport took in 38 commercial aircraft and four military aircraft, and accommodated nearly 6,700 evacuees from Olympic Airways, Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways, Alitalia and more.^[4][5][6]

Most of the streets in Gander are named after famous aviators, including Alcock and Brown, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, Eddie Rickenbacker, Marc Garneau and Chuck Yeager.^[7]

History

Gander was chosen for the construction of an airport in 1935 because it is very close to the great circle route between New York and London. In 1936, construction of the base began, and the town started to develop. On 11 January 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 Air Ferry Command of the Royal Air Force, 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.^[8]

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 were 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 12 December 1985; 256 people were killed in the disaster, probably caused by ice contamination on the wings, making it the deadliest air crash ever to happen in Canada.

Assistance following September 11 attacks

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% of the local population at the time—were forced to stay in the Gander area for up to six days until airspace was reopened. Gander received the third highest volume of passengers following Operation Yellow Ribbon, behind Vancouver International Airport, which received 8,500, and Halifax International. Residents of Gander and surrounding communities volunteered to house, feed, and entertain the travellers as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon. This was largely because Transport Canada and Nav Canada asked that transatlantic flights avoid diverting to major airports in central Canada, such as Toronto Pearson and Montréal-Dorval.

Lufthansa named one of its Airbus A340 (registration D-AIFC^[9]) aircraft Gander/Halifax to thank both cities for their handling of rerouted travellers on 11 September. A book, The Day the World Came to Town, included several stories about Gander's role during that and subsequent days.^[10] A radio play, The Day the Planes Came, by Caroline and David Stafford, dealing with the effect on Gander of the 11 September passengers was first broadcast in June 2008 on BBC Radio 4 and was repeated in October 2009.^[11] A TV movie, Diverted, was made in 2009. In February 2010, NBC aired a report by Tom Brokaw covering Gander's part in the grounding of hundreds of planes on 9/11 during coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.^[12] A musical by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Come from Away, which retells the stories of passengers and Newfoundlanders in Gander after Operation Yellow Ribbon, was mounted on Broadway in 2017.^[13] The same year, Come from Away was nominated for seven Tony Awards and won the Tony for Best Direction of Musical. The town was also profiled in Moze Mossanen's 2018 documentary film You Are Here.^[14] National Geographic Episode 9/11: Control The Skies tells the story of the air traffic controllers, first broadcast on 11 September 2019.^[15][16]

The Town of Gander continues to pursue business opportunities in the aerospace industry.^[17]

Geography

Gander is located 310 km (190 mi) northwest of the provincial capital of St. John's. Ordovician age shale, slate and greywacke form the underlying bedrock, which is covered by stony loam to silt loam podzolic or gleysolic soil.^[18]

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1961	5,725	—
1981	10,404	+81.7%
1991	10,339	−0.6%
1996	10,364	+0.2%
2001	9,651	−6.9%
2006	9,951	+3.1%
2011	11,054	+11.1%
2016	11,688	+5.7%
2021	11,880	+1.6%
[3][19][20][21]

In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Gander had a population of 11,880 living in 5,068 of its 5,424 total private dwellings, a change of 1.6% from its 2016 population of 11,688. With a land area of 104.53 km² (40.36 sq mi), it had a population density of 113.7/km² (294.4/sq mi) in 2021.^[3]

As of the 2021 census, the population of Gander was found to be 89.7% white with all visible minorities totalling 2.7% of the population and the Indigenous population totalling 7.5%.^[3]

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. Its average frost-free period runs from June 1 to October 16–136 days.

Climate data for Gander International Airport, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1937–present
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high humidex	16.5	13.4	17.5	24.8	33.0	40.0	40.4	39.0	34.6	29.8	25.7	18.0	40.4
Record high °C (°F)	14.2 (57.6)	13.4 (56.1)	18.1 (64.6)	22.6 (72.7)	31.0 (87.8)	33.7 (92.7)	35.6 (96.1)	33.3 (91.9)	29.1 (84.4)	24.7 (76.5)	20.6 (69.1)	15.2 (59.4)	35.6 (96.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	−2.8 (27.0)	−2.7 (27.1)	0.3 (32.5)	5.4 (41.7)	11.7 (53.1)	17.0 (62.6)	21.8 (71.2)	21.4 (70.5)	16.9 (62.4)	10.4 (50.7)	5.1 (41.2)	0.1 (32.2)	8.7 (47.7)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−6.6 (20.1)	−6.8 (19.8)	−3.8 (25.2)	1.4 (34.5)	6.7 (44.1)	11.6 (52.9)	16.6 (61.9)	16.6 (61.9)	12.3 (54.1)	6.7 (44.1)	1.8 (35.2)	−3.1 (26.4)	4.5 (40.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−10.4 (13.3)	−10.9 (12.4)	−7.7 (18.1)	−2.7 (27.1)	1.6 (34.9)	6.2 (43.2)	11.3 (52.3)	11.7 (53.1)	7.7 (45.9)	2.9 (37.2)	−1.5 (29.3)	−6.3 (20.7)	0.2 (32.4)
Record low °C (°F)	−27.2 (−17.0)	−31.1 (−24.0)	−28.8 (−19.8)	−17.6 (0.3)	−8.9 (16.0)	−2.8 (27.0)	0.6 (33.1)	−1.1 (30.0)	−1.7 (28.9)	−7.2 (19.0)	−15.7 (3.7)	−26.1 (−15.0)	−31.1 (−24.0)
Record low wind chill	−43.4	−46.7	−44.7	−29.1	−16.7	−8.7	0.0	0.0	−6.5	−14.9	−28.0	−40.2	−46.7
Average precipitation mm (inches)	102.8 (4.05)	91.4 (3.60)	105.2 (4.14)	92.0 (3.62)	93.8 (3.69)	88.8 (3.50)	105.0 (4.13)	101.7 (4.00)	115.2 (4.54)	119.9 (4.72)	110.1 (4.33)	121.3 (4.78)	1,247.1 (49.10)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	26.2 (1.03)	25.0 (0.98)	25.4 (1.00)	51.7 (2.04)	78.2 (3.08)	89.8 (3.54)	107.2 (4.22)	106.5 (4.19)	121.1 (4.77)	116.0 (4.57)	80.4 (3.17)	54.7 (2.15)	882.2 (34.73)
Average snowfall cm (inches)	97.1 (38.2)	81.0 (31.9)	85.5 (33.7)	45.5 (17.9)	10.6 (4.2)	1.5 (0.6)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.1 (0.0)	12.4 (4.9)	29.7 (11.7)	80.2 (31.6)	443.4 (174.6)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm)	20.3	17.6	19.6	17.7	18.9	17.4	17.5	16.0	16.2	20.4	20.0	21.6	223.3
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm)	7.4	7.1	10.0	12.5	17.6	17.6	18.0	16.4	17.0	19.9	14.3	10.9	168.9
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm)	18.7	16.9	16.0	10.8	4.1	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.2	3.5	10.3	17.4	98.2
Average relative humidity (%) (at 1500 LST)	75.3	71.3	69.4	66.4	64.6	64.4	63.1	63.8	66.6	72.6	77.6	80.5	69.6
Mean monthly sunshine hours	93.7	105.4	117.2	130.5	163.2	183.7	218.7	208.1	148.5	110.4	72.6	72.4	1,624.2
Percent possible sunshine	34.6	36.8	31.9	31.8	34.5	38.0	44.8	46.7	39.2	32.9	26.3	28.1	35.5
Source: Environment Canada[22] (sunshine 1981–2010)[23][24]

Services

James Paton Memorial Health Centre

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.^[25]

Gander Public Library

Main article: Gander Public Library

Steele Community Centre

The Steele Community Centre, previously named the Gander Community Centre,^[26] is a multi-purpose venue located on Airport Boulevard. The community centre, owned and operated by the Town of Gander, is used to host trade shows, conferences, sporting events and special events. It is home to the Gander Flyers of the Central West Senior Hockey League.

During Operation Yellow Ribbon, the people of Gander and surrounding communities donated large amounts of food and other supplies for the unexpected visitors. The Gander Community Centre became a giant "walk-in fridge" for the food donations.^[27]

In popular culture

Gander airport features in the Nevil Shute novel No Highway and the film adaptation, called No Highway in the Sky in Anglophone countries other than the UK.

in 2006, the miniseries Above and Beyond deals with the Atlantic Ferry Organization, tasked with ferrying aircraft from North America to Europe in the early years of the Second World War. The production was filmed primarily at the Gander airport, and details the development of the airport as a ferry stop.

In 2013, Come from Away, a musical by Irene Sankoff and David Hein based on the events in Gander on and after 11 September was first performed at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, following a workshop there the previous year. It became a co-production of the La Jolla Playhouse and the Seattle Repertory Theatre, and opened in San Diego on 29 May 2015.^[28] The show saw a production in Washington, D.C., at Ford's Theatre, from September to October 2016, then, prior to opening in Toronto, staged a pair of shows in Gander.^[29] It opened at Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre, running from November 2016 to January 2017, where it set a ticket sales record for the 109-year-old venue.^[30] It opened in New York on Broadway at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on 12 March 2017,^[31] and is scheduled to return to the Royal Alex in Toronto on 13 February 2018.^[32] In the year 2017, at the 71st Tony Awards, the musical was nominated for seven Tony Awards, alongside other musical award nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Direction of a Musical by Christopher Ashley.^[33] The show has gone on to be played in various cities around North and South America and Europe for over a decade.

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 km (24 mi).^[34][35]

Public parks, walking and ski trails

• Cobbs Pond Rotary Park: a small park located on the northern edge of Gander. Amenities include: picnic area, washrooms, wharf, playground and a 3 km (1.9 mi) boardwalk trail. It is also the site of the town’s annual festival, The Festival of Flight, which occurs on the first Monday of August. The site reopened with renovations in 2014.
• Thomas Howe Demonstration Forest: an interpretive demonstration forest located 2 km (1.2 mi) east of Gander on the Trans-Canada Highway. Amenities include: three walking trails with interpretive panels, a picnic area, washrooms and snowshoe trails.
• Gander Heritage Trails: meander through the streets of old airport sectors where Gander once existed, near Gander International Airport. Look for remnants of old building foundations, benches and interpretive panels.
• Newfoundland Trailway: the old Canadian National Railway that passed through Gander has been developed for walking, biking, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. Some sections between Cobb’s Pond Rotary Park and the Old Town Site have been paved.
• The Airport Nordic Ski Club: located 3 km (1.9 mi) west of Gander on the Trans Canada Highway. The club has 16 km (9.9 mi) of trails groomed for both diagonal stride and skating by a Pisten Bully Groomer, and 5.5 km (3.4 mi) of dedicated snowshoe trails. Ski 4 km (2.5 mi) of lighted trails nightly from dusk until 10 PM (weather and snow conditions permitting). The club is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization that has hosted a number of provincial events including the KidsFest, Midget and High School Championships.^[36]
• Gander Heritage Memorial Park: located in central Gander on Airport Boulevard. It holds various monuments to aviators and soldiers from Gander and from elsewhere in Newfoundland, and the town describes it as being "envisaged as a place of quiet thought and contemplation".^[37] There is a statue of Gander, a Newfoundland dog posthumously awarded the Dickin Medal, the "animals' VC", in 2000 for his deeds in World War II,^[38] the first such award in over 50 years.^[39]

Freedom of the Town

In 2017, the 103 Search and Rescue Squadron, RCAF received the Freedom of the Town award.^[40][41]

See also

• North Atlantic Aviation Museum

References

1. "Gander". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
2. "Meet Your Town Council". Town of Gander. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
3. "=Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Profile table - Gander, Town (T), Newfoundland and Labrador [Census subdivision]; Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador [Population centre]; Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador [Census agglomeration]". Statistics Canada. 1 February 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
4. "The Capital Of Kindness". Washington Post. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
5. Lackey, Katharine. "An oasis of kindness on 9/11: This town welcomed 6,700 strangers amid terror attacks". USA TODAY. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
6. "Remembering 9/11: The Day Canadian Town Of Gander Opened Its Doors, Hearts To Complete Strangers". 9 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
7. "Cool Facts". Archived from the original on 25 July 2008.
8. History of Gander Archived 2022-02-02 at the Wayback Machine
9. "Lufthansa: Identification Codes: Tell me what your name is,". Lufthansa magazin. Archived from the original on 1 March 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
10. DeFede, Jim (2002). The Day the World Came to Town. HarperCollins (ReganBooks). ISBN 0060513608. OL 274284W.
11. "The Day the Planes Came, Afternoon Drama". BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
12. "9/11: Operation Yellow Ribbon (Gander, Newfoundland)". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 30 December 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2019 – via YouTube.
13. Paulson, Michael (15 March 2017). "Justin Trudeau Brings Ivanka Trump to Broadway Show on Welcoming Outsiders". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
14. "TV review: You Are Here proves the enduring power of the Come from Away story". Now. 11 September 2018. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019.
15. "9/11: Control The Skies". National Geographic. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
16. "9/11: Control the Skies tells story of air traffic controllers on that fateful day". Hollywood Soapbox.
17. "GanderCanada.com Business Opportunities"
18. https://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/publications/surveys/nf/nf1/nf1_report.pdf Soil Survey of the Gander-Gambo Area
19. "Canada Year Book 1967" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2014.
20. "Canada: Newfoundland and Labrador". Archived from the original on 30 May 2012.
21. "Census Profile, 2016 Census Gander, Town [Census subdivision], Newfoundland and Labrador". Statistics Canada. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
22. "1991 to 2020 Canadian Climate Normals Data". Environment Canada. Archived from the original on 13 April 2024. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
23. "Calculation Information for 1981 to 2010 Canadian Normals Data". Environment Canada. Archived from the original on 14 June 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
24. "Daily Data Report for June 2024". Environment Canada. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
25. "James Paton Memorial Hospital - Gander". Archived from the original on 12 November 2008.
26. Randall, Adam (29 July 2016). "Community Centre renamed in honour of Harry Steele". The Gander Beacon. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016.
27. Bailey, Sue (31 August 2011). "Passengers stranded on 9-11 plan return to Gander". CTVNews. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
28. Purcell, Carey. ″La Jolla's World Premiere of Rock Musical Come from Away, With Jenn Colella and Chad Kimball, Begins Archived 2015-12-18 at the Wayback Machine″. Playbill. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
29. "In Come From Away, a small town's legacy soars" Archived 2016-11-12 at the Wayback Machine. Toronto Star, 12 November 2016, page E1, Murray White
30. Come From Away ticket sales set record Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine, Debra Yeo, The Toronto Star, 28 November 2016
31. "Come From Away". Internet Broadway Database. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
32. Come From Away Archived 2017-03-21 at the Wayback Machine, Mirvish Productions, 2017
33. "The 2017 Tony Awards - And the Nominees Are... Complete List! Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 and Hello, Dolly! Lead Pack". BroadwayWorld.com. 2 May 2017. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
34. - Town of Gander, Nfld.
35. "A Little Bit of Canada on the Red Planet". Global News. 30 June 2008. Archived from the original on 31 March 2015.
36. "Airport Nordic Ski Club". Retrieved 19 October 2019.
37. "Gander Schools Legacy Project: The Gander Heritage Memorial Park / Conceptual Sketch". 14 March 2012. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
38. "Dickin Medal dogs". People's Dispensary for Sick Animals. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
39. Judd, Terri (16 August 2000). "'Animal VC' will honour Gander's dash for grenade". The Independent. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
40. "Freedom of the City Parade being held in Gander - The Beacon". www.ganderbeacon.ca. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
41. "Search and Rescue squadron given 'Freedom of the City' in Gander - CBC News". Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2019.

Further reading

• "Helping the other victims of September 11: Gander uses multiple EOCs to deal with 38 diverted flights" (PDF). The Australian Journal of Emergency Management, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp 108–121. May 2003. Retrieved 2 April 2022.

External links

• Gander travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Town of Gander (official site)