BY JOE COLLIER

Twenty-six years ago, my good friend Gary Wayne Cox was considering a career change. He told me he had received an offer to manage the Big Sandy Regional Airport.

Having no interest in flying, I had never taken a close look at the place. When I finally did, it looked more like a hayfield than an airport. You could hardly see the runway for the weeds, and there was no way I would have called that building an airport terminal.

I advised my friend that there were plenty of other opportunities out there for him, but he decided to give it a whirl.

Not everyone hanging around the airport was happy about the change. Gary explained that it was not a garage or a place to work on race cars, and that anyone who made a mess was expected to clean it up.

That was exactly what he set about doing—cleaning up and cutting the grass.

When he hung a few pictures on the walls and announced that he was going to take flying lessons, I knew he would probably be there for a while.

Things were fairly quiet when he first took over. I thought it was a good place to hit golf balls, which I did.

That did not last long.

Gary was soon too busy chasing deer and elk off the runway, repairing the fence and maintaining the grounds.

Every few years, he would talk to the airport board about buying a bigger lawnmower, which, of course, only led to more grass being cut.

The place began to look better. Now and then, a plane even landed.

Then Gary told me he was thinking about opening a restaurant so people would have somewhere to eat when they landed. I told him I was perfectly happy with the apples, bananas and cookies he kept at the airport.

I also explained how difficult the restaurant business could be, especially when the restaurant was located at the end of a dead-end road.

Fortunately for Gary, he had passed his work ethic along to his children. Before long, people were dropping out of the sky to eat lunch at Cloud 9 Café, operated by his daughter.

Over the years, Gary has overseen numerous improvements to the terminal and runway, as well as the airport’s overall modernization and safety. With the new runway lights recently installed, I am sure it is spectacular to see from the sky when landing at night.

He has hung many more pictures, cut many more acres of grass and met countless people through his work. He has represented the Big Sandy area well.

I could go on and on, but perhaps the best way to explain Gary is through something that happened at a gathering a few years ago.

I was about to tell a story involving the airport when a friend interrupted me.

“Hold on,” he said. “Let Gary tell it.”

It upset me a little at the time. Then I thought about it and realized that I often see everything in black and white, while Gary always tells it in living color.

Big Sandy Regional Airport is the most beautiful airport in Kentucky.

Gary transformed it from a bland hayfield into a colorful example of what hard work, vision and dedication can accomplish.

Joe Collier lives in Inez. He is a lifelong resident of Martin County.