BEATLES LAND IN WINNIPEG
Here’s a trivia question: Where was the
first place the Beatles set foot in
Canada? Answer: Winnipeg
International Airport, at 2:05 PM,
Tuesday, August 18, 1964. It was only
for 22 minutes but enough time to make
history.
They were greeted by some 1,000 screaming
fans. Intended as a routine
25-minute refuelling stop, word leaked out
the Beatles were on board a flight from
London to Los Angeles that day to begin
their first full North American tour.
"Around noon, I got a call from the public
relations director for Air Canada who was
a good friend of mine," recalled CJAY TV
personality Bob Burns, host of the popular
Teen Dance Party. " 'Get out to the
airport for the interview of your life,'
he told me."
By the time Burns arrived radio stations
CKY and CKRC had announced the imminent
arrival of the Fab Four and hundreds of
teenagers descended on the airport.
Traffic was blocked and the parking lot
jammed. As the Pan American Lockheed
Electra, dubbed "Jet Clipper Beatles",
taxied to a halt, they unleashed a
deafening roar. "We want the
Beatles!" the predominantly female crowd,
by now numbering a thousand, chanted.
With no plans to disembark on what was
merely a twenty-minute stopover, Beatles
manager Brian Epstein, noticing the
pandemonium on the observation deck,
prevailed upon his charges to make a brief
appearance. Dressed in suits and
ties, all four emerged from the plane
waving to the hysterical throng.
“Hello Winnipeg!” shouted a beaming Paul
McCartney, first down the stairs. A
gang of reporters quickly swarmed in,
microphones thrust in his face.
“It’s a luverly welcome,” McCartney
chirped.
Burns managed to snag John Lennon saying
"Bob Burns from CJAY Television" to which
the cheeky Beatle replied, "That's not my
fault." As Burns remembered, "He had
a smart-aleck answer for everything."
Burns took great pride in being the first
Canadian television reporter to interview
a Beatle. He found Ringo Starr the
most gregarious. "He seemed more
mature than the others," he noted.
Other reporters managed to glean a few
words from various Beatles.
Among the mob of squealing teens jostling
for a sight of their heroes was
14-year-old Diane Clear. "Oh, I wish
they had stayed longer," she gushed to a
reporter. "They are so cute."
CKRC receptionist Sharon McRae was
fortunate to shake hands with George
Harrison and receive a kiss on the hand
from Ringo. She was later besieged
by a horde of Beatlemaniacs. "I was
just overwhelmed by all the people and the
noise."
"George and Ringo were very polite and
nice," recalls McRae, who says she wasn't
a Beatlemaniac at the time. "It
wasn't until I got home that night and my
parents, neighbours and friends started
bombarding me with a million questions
about that day that I realized what a big
deal it really was."
Minutes later, waving one last time, the
four ducked inside the plane. But
not before Ringo suggested that the group
might return to Winnipeg following their
North American tour.
John Einarson 2011
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 THE DECKER
DASH
Seventeen-year-old Silver Heights
Collegiate student Bruce Decker, a member
of The Deverons, was on his way to the
beach when he and his friends made a hasty
detour upon hearing the news on the
radio. “We couldn't see anything
from the observation platform so we
sneaked down to the ramp,” Decker related
years later. “It was fascinating to
see the Beatles in person here in
Winnipeg.”
Seizing the moment, he suddenly dashed
across the runway, some 23 metres, to the
stairs of the plane just as the four
Beatles were stepping back inside.
"Quick thinking, that's all it was,"
reflected Decker. "I just figured I
could make it up those steps and I no
sooner thought of it and I was gone.
I had to get a closer look at them.
The crowd roared when they saw me
go. I got right up the stairs before
the Mounties grabbed me." His
friends had to wait while the Mounties
detained him.
Decker's bold move amused the
Beatles. "Just as the Mounties were
wrestling with me, I caught a glimpse of
the Beatles through the door and they were
chuckling."
 Released
by authorities, Decker became the object
of instant adulation. As fans began
collecting money for Decker's bail,
authorities eventually let him go without
any charges.
“Kids crowded around me, touching me and
screaming. Tears were streaming down
their faces as they asked me: ‘What do
they look like? Did they say
anything?’ The girls thought there
was some kind of magic about me just
because I’d got so close to them.”
At a Deverons gig that evening, Decker was
heralded as a hero by the audience.
The next day, his impulsive act made the
front page of the local papers dubbed
Decker's Dash.
Dozens of dazed teens remained behind
after the plane was long gone. “It
was a little embarrassing having to tell
kids to stop kissing the runway,”
commented RCMP Sgt. E. G. Varndell.
Others sat on the grass weeping.
“We've never seen anything like this
before and I hope we won't see it again.”
At a Deverons gig that evening, Decker was
heralded as a hero by the audience.
The next day, his impulsive act made the
front page of the local papers dubbed
Decker's Dash.
John Einarson 2011
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