Midway Airport: The First Seventy-Five Years by Christopher Lynch Lake Claremont Press Phone: 773/583-7800 www.lakeclaremont.com

Entering Monarch's hangar, a large enclosed space in this area was always impressive. No matter how many times I ventured into the echoy hangar, I was always stunned by the size of the place. It was big enough to "stack" several corporate jets into this space before lowering the gigantic doors of the hanger, that creaked dramatically whenever they were opened or closed. Imagine the side of a warehouse suddenly shimmering and shaking before rising majestically, as mighty counterweights pulled the doors upward.

This hanger was built in the early 1980's, when my father, Matthew Lynch realized that to stay competitive in corporate aviation, one had to upgrade facilities, and so this massive hanger, built with steel and masonry, was constructed. While raising this edifice, the crews had placed the massive steel girders together, like a child's erector set, which stood stark and skeleton-like, high in the air. Then underneath, due to excavation work, water began to collect, and this pool of water became known as "Lake Sheila" in honor of my mother. When the masonry was finally built, the hanger had an elegance with defied it's bulky exterior. With an interior of fluorescent lights that replicates natural light, the hanger was radiant at night, with the illumination from the fluorescent lamps overhead gleaming off the shiny jets below.

The hanger would also serve as the location of the annual Monarch Christmas party, where everyone and their brother would gather for some holiday cheer, thanks in part to the free drinks. It was fun to circulate among the sleek jets and greet colleagues and friends. But there was one guaranteed method of ending the party on time. At the appointed hour, or if things began to get rowdy, the massive twin doors of the hanger would creak open slowly, as a blast of cold December air would flood the party, putting a frosty damper on the proceedings. This door trick never failed in clearing a party. Perhaps local politicians should hold community meetings there as well, and if constituents become too boisterous, the elected official in the hot seat could hit the door switch.