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Video: Article inspires new Flying Farmers documentary

An article on the Estevan Mercury’s website, www.estevanmercury.ca, has inspired a husband and wife team to make a movie about the Flying Farmers organization.

An article on the Estevan Mercury’s website, www.estevanmercury.ca, has inspired a husband and wife team to make a movie about the Flying Farmers organization.

Skygrazers: A story of the Flying Farmers, is an uplifting documentary by Annmarie and Chris Aronoff, who now reside in Los Angeles. Annmarie Aronoff is a former Saskatchewan resident.

During her research on a feature film about a girl who learns to fly from her grandfather, who is a farmer and the owner of an aviation museum, Annmarie Aronoff came across an article that appeared in Lifestyles in July 2015 about the Flying Farmers. The organization’s first chapter in Saskatchewan was in Estevan.

“I actually Googled Flying Farmers, and this article came up,” she said.

Since she was from Saskatchewan, and she has some family connections to the city, she took a keen interest in the club.

“I had never heard of this concept before, and so it was so intriguing to read that these people just fly to go get a hamburger, have lunch with their friends in another town or city or province, and that this was actually happening in Saskatchewan. And I had lived there my whole life and hadn’t heard of this.”

Aronoff marvelled that they even had a queen of the organization. In 2015, it was Colette Pierce, who resides near Virden, Man. And they have conventions.

Flying Farmers
The poster for the new Flying Farmers documentary.

And there was a photo in the article of Pierce and her husband standing in front of their Cesna.

So she set out to do a documentary on this Saskatchewan story that she thought had widespread appeal. She contacted the Pierces, told them she thought the story was intriguing and it went from there.

Aronoff was born and raised in Regina, and is the sister of Canadian Senator Denise Batters. Batters late husband, Dave, was from Estevan originally and later became a member of Parliament.

Dave Batters’ parent, Al and Shirley, still reside in Estevan, and Aronoff said they still speak regularly.

Aronoff has been in Los Angeles for 10 years and has also lived in Toronto. She has travelled the world, selling films and TV shows made in Saskatchewan. She finds people are intrigued with where she’s from and where the stories come from.

“It got me interested in what global audiences were watching, and I thought sometimes it’s just a cool story that appeals and travels well across the miles, and from there I learned what audiences … are seeing and shifting to,” she said.

She met her husband while he was shooting the movie Rust in Kipling. Chris Aranoff grew up on a farm in Oregon, which fuelled her interest in Skygazers.

The couple has released one other documentary, I Came Back, which is on mental health issues. It shows how people can come back from depression or mental illness.

Mental health is also a big component of Skygazers, as Aronoff noted farmers have a high suicide rate.

“We wanted to share a positive story,” said Aronoff. “And show how the Flying Farmers are this group that solves a couple of these problems that farmers face. They have the pressure of family legacy, the economics that are always changing. They face isolation and the need for diversification.”

The Flying Farmers bring these people together to socialize, share the bond of aviation, network and learn about different crops and expand and work together.

The documentary was shown at the Flying Farmers international convention, and many of the delegates greeted the couple with hugs after the show.

“In the measure of reaching audiences, just because we wanted to get their message out there, we’ve been warmly received by different networks.”

In addition to the showings already mentioned, it will be screened at several film festivals throughout the U.S.. An American network has agreed to air it.

“We’re pretty proud of how this is going, and we’re excited to get the word out for the Flying Farmers and for aviation in general, and to represent farmers and show their important stories to other people.”

The couple has also joined a Flying Farmers chapter in the U.S.

“Our message with the documentary is we want people to watch it and say ‘I can do that. I can learn how to fly. I want to do that.’ And so it worked quite well on Chris, who took a discovery flight and now just got his pilot’s licence this year.”

Her husband pointed out that aviation is really accessible, and most people don’t think they can do it.

“I went on a discovery flight, and after that, I was hooked, and it’s just a really wonderful thing for anybody at any age to do.”

The couple noted The Flying Farmers provide scholarships and funding, and encourage young people to fly.

After spending so much time with them, Aronoff said they fell in love with the people of the aviation group. The national convention is in Arizona each year, and it’s largely Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba farmers who attend.

The Aronoffs said they would welcome the opportunity to have the documentary shown in Estevan, so they could share this story about the importance of aviation and farming with as many people as possible.

“Our message is it’s about family and togetherness. Flying together as a couple, and flying together as families, and working together as a family farm. There’s nothing that bonds you more than working on a project together. And even as we’ve realized, working on this film together, it’s something that really bonds us as a couple.”

A screening for Skygazers is taking place at the Regina Public Library on Aug. 2 at 8:30 p.m. Audrey Kahovec of Regina Flying Club will join the Aronoff’s for a question and answer session.