John Huscroft's Celebration of Life

Mayor Ron Toyota was asked to speak at John's Celebration of Life. Below is his speech:

"On behalf of myself and my wife Judy, Town of Creston Council and staff, I would like to express our deepest condolences to Carol, Nicole, Traven, Jenn and your families for your loss. I know that it’s difficult to quantify the impact that Johnny has made on so many of us, but looking around this room today, it is clear that it is greater than any of us could have realized.

On January 31st, Johnny and I had lunch at the Kokanee Inn and we discussed our upcoming retirement plans. Johnny said he wanted to be done in 4 years time, and then he and Carol could travel. He mentioned that Carol liked Hawaii and I encouraged him to get tickets and fly there in early February and spend a few weeks with Casey Messinger. I am saddened that this did not happen.

We have been friends for many, many years. We watched each other’s families grow, we watched them grow up and have families of their own. Johnny was so incredibly proud of his family and the wonderful people that they are. As tirelessly as he worked for his family, he worked just as hard in service to the Creston Valley, volunteering countless hours with the Creston Valley Rotary club, the Creston Valley Blossom Festival committee and numerous others. Every year, the Rotary Club names a “Citizen of the Year” and they tried for years to bestow that honour on Johnny … but he always caught wind of it and shut it down. However, thanks to the determination of his family and the fact that COVID didn’t allow for in person meetings, last year they were able to name him as 2020 Citizen of the Year without him knowing about it beforehand! It was certainly a victory and so well-deserved. In typical Johnny fashion, he came to Town Hall for a photo and presentation with me, but was he not happy about being in the spotlight. He wasn’t comfortable talking about his accomplishments, and always felt that there was someone more deserving than he was. That was Johnny.

We were both pilots, and spent many, many hours talking about our love of flying. As some of you may be aware, it was a dream of John’s to establish a monument to the Golden Centennaires who were the precursor aerobatic flying team to the Snowbirds. He started this quest in 2009, purchasing a Tutor Jet in 2010, and has since had it repainted in the original 1967 Golden Centennaires livery. He made a presentation to Council just over a year ago to explore options for an appropriate location to display the aircraft that will be mounted on a 60 sq. ft. base, and measures 32 ft. high by 36 ft. wide. Council approved a temporary location for the jet in the north parking lot of Millennium Park, adjacent to the trail that runs on the west side, next to the College of the Rockies, and John accepted this offer this past December. Those of you who know Johnny know that he was persistent to a fault …he always knew that he was going to succeed in whatever he set his mind to. Establishing this memorial to CB Lang and the Golden Centennaires was so important to Johnny and it is my honour to see this project through to completion for him, the Huscroft family and for the Town of Creston.

After many many hours of calls, emails, discussions with many very willing and energetic people, I am pleased to announce that our plans and schedule are to have the CB Tutor Lang memorial in place by July 2022.

The estimated total cost of this project is $110,000 of which Johnny had raised and personally provided almost two thirds of the funds. Approximately $48,000 more is needed in order to complete this project which involves transporting the aircraft from Campbellford, Ontario and installation. I am currently in discussions with several organizations that Johnny was involved with to request financial contributions. Anyone wishing to donate to this project in his memory can do so and can receive a tax receipt from the Town of Creston if required. For more information, go to the Town of Creston’s Let’s Talk Creston webpage – letstalk.creston.ca – and click on the Golden Centennaires Tutor Jet Display project.

Johnny had many, many friends and associates from all across this country, and I’m going to let you in on a surprise that is planned for approximately four months from now. I am so pleased to announce that we have recently received confirmation that the Canadian Air Force Snowbirds Demonstration team will be doing a “Flyby” over Creston on Tuesday, July 26, 2022! This will be a GREAT tribute to Johnny and I only wish that it was happening with him being here so that we could watch it together in person. I guess that we’ll all just have to settle for him knowing that he will be watching from above and flying alongside instead.

Rest in peace, my friend. Until we meet again.

Ron Toyota

April 2, 2022