Come fly with me
- Anyone staring skyward Aug. 28 near the Mercyhurst campus spied a plume of smoke streaming from the back of a restored 1944 Boeing Stearman. It was none other than our own Sister Mary Matthew Baltus buzzing by. Nancie Baltus was 15 when she took her frst fying lesson in a vin tage biplane. That summer day, the spry 90-year old strapped on a headset, boarded the open-air fying machine at North Coast Air and let pilot Scott Allen fy her back in time to the golden age of aviation. The rarefed e xperience for Sister Mary Matthew, the longtime astronomy professor for whom the Baltus Observatory atop Zurn Hall is named, came courtesy of a Mercyhurst trustee who prefers to remain anonymous. The opportunity arose last year at a Mercyhurst Prep gala when a biplane figh t over the peninsula was of ered for bid at a fundraising auction. Sister eagerly bid, but was outdone by deeper pockets. Seeing her disappointment, the Mercyhurst trustee quietly placed an anonymous bid for a second figh t as a gift for her many years of Mercy service. This year marks her 70 th anniversary as a Sister of Mercy.
Sister was cool and collected as she climbed on board the shiny red, white and blue plane. “I just want to feel what it is like again,” she said. “The last time I few one of these w as back in 1945.” Allen few Sist er along the peninsula and then up and around Mercyhurst, where he unleashed his smoke system to the delight of spectators below.
Once back on the ground, Sister Mary Matthew was all smiles.
“I got to see Mercyhurst, the observatory and my old family home on Beech Avenue,” she said, obviously pleased. When asked if she’d do it again, she didn’t hesitate: “Oh sure, but next time I’d like him to let me fy it .”
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