“I’m very proud of what I’ve done over the years. Anything I can do in the community, if I could help somebody, that’s what I was and still am,” she said
Eddie Suriano is stepping down from his role as marketing and events manager for the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre.
“It’s time to let younger people take on new ideas. It’s time. I decided a few weeks ago,” Suriano told SooToday on Friday.
Her last day of work before retiring from the Bushplane Museum is Saturday, July 9.
“It’s been an amazing 12 years,” Suriano said, having worked as a key staff member at the Bushplane Museum since June 2010.
“When I was hired 12 years ago, the Aircraft Museum was not doing well. We were always worried that we would have to close our doors. Those were pretty scary times then.”
Suriano put his creative mind to work and launched many events and fundraisers for the Center.
“Things just started happening. When you provide good service to your visitors, it makes all the difference in the world. I am proud of what I have achieved in these 12 years.”
After the Bushplane Museum launched its Annual Holiday Gift and Craft Show, Suriano kept it going.
“It will be nine years this year. He became our biggest fundraiser. It brought us a significant amount of money every year. We supported all the small vendors by putting on the show and were proud to help both small businesses and ourselves. Since it’s Christmas, the Sault Ste. The people of Marie have always been so generous because they come through donations. It’s a big, major success for the Bushplane Museum and it’s now so widely recognised.’
“We’d pretty much have to expand the Bushplane to get everyone in here or get rid of the planes, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she said with a smile.
Another event Suriano helped start is the Bushplane Museum’s annual Family Day event.
“The year we started, 632 people came. They had a great time and the next year we did it again. This was successful and again we got 632 people. My third year goal was to get 700 and I got to 703. I’m a “goal” guy and in year four we had 1500. Everyone knew it was a great event, low cost, so they could come and have a really good time , if they weren’t going skiing. This is one of the big ones that have been developing over the years. People are looking forward to it.”
This year’s Family Day activities included games, crafts, the Entomica Insectarium, free giveaways, a scavenger hunt, take-home crafts and a Soo Dan Hap Ki Do demonstration.
Suriano has also arranged weddings at the Center, from two or three a year to more than 20.
Other events such as The Festival of Beer, The Zombie Walk and the Algoma Festival Choir Performances have also become annual favorites held at the Bushplane Museum under Suriano’s watch.
“People are happy here and come back. It’s a great place. The Bushplane Museum is a great place. It’s become a real gathering place, and that’s what we want.”
In June, Suriano was honored for her outstanding community service with the Ted Brooks Memorial Award, presented at the Water Tower Inn Big Cup Scramble Golf Tournament for the United Way.
Although retired from the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, Suriano is an active man and hopes to put his hand to similar work elsewhere in Sault.
“I think there could be something that would use my experience, something to do with clients and working with people. I’m a people person. Staying at home is definitely not me. Even when we were closed because of COVID, I walked around a lot.”
Before working at the Bushplane Museum, Suriano was a familiar face to shoppers in Sault as a department manager at Sears in the Station Mall, beginning his career there in 1973.
“Those people who worked with me in the store, we have a lot of great memories. It was a great place to work.”
Suriano planned a Sears employee reunion to be held at the Bushplane Museum in 2020, but COVID derailed that plan.
She still hopes to organize a reunion of her former Sears colleagues in the future.
After three decades, she retired from Sears, where she also took over the leadership of the department store’s employees, contributing to several charitable causes and teaching a self-esteem class for young people.
Suriano was informed of the need for an event manager at the Bushplane Museum.
She was interviewed and asked if she could start the next day.
“I’m very proud of what I’ve done over the years. Anything I can do in the community, if I could help somebody, that’s what I was and still am.”
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