During the 9/11 crisis numerous international flights were diverted into Gander, leaving thousands of people stranded for a number of days. During this time the passengers and crews were accomodated by various agencies,community groups, and the general public, all helping out as only Newfoundlanders could. The Gander Judo club was approached by the Emergency Measures Organization to provide their tatami (mats) for the stranded passengers to sleep on. The club was only too happy to provide them and delivered them in good faith. The mats were never returned by the agencies that requested them. Post 9/11 various Sensei have attempted to recover the lost mats...some were found in people's rec rooms, home gyms, padding bunk beds in their cabins, some were returned in good repair, some were returned maliciously vandalized. No one was willing to take responsibilty for the loss. Pre 9/11 the club owned in the vicinity of 100 mats in excellent repair. Below are the photos of what was scraped up over the last 10 years. As we attempted to retrain ourselves..... this is what we used for 1 year.

It wasn't easy but through vigilant lobbying, arguing, fighting, beating his head against a brickwall, with tunnel vision and pig-headed determination, Sensei Chris has secured just over $6,000 from various Government agencies, a little from the town, and a chunk out of our own pockets to purchase some mats. This gave us enough to at least make us viable as a club. It still equates to less than half of the mats we lost....we'll call it  work in progress....