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Cities like Havana, Cuba and Nassau, Bahamas
provided easy opportunities to sell his stash, but also
turned up the heat on the fugitive. He told Maclean’s
Magazine that he spent the last of his money in early
1957 during a final two-week binge in Florida and
Cuba before returning to Canada to find work.
Almost immediately upon his return to mining work,
this time in Eastern Canada, the RCMP were hot on
Gregson’s heels and he was eventually named one of Beekeeping
Canada’s most wanted criminals. In February 1957, There are about 700 beekeepers in the province that
Gregson stowed away on a ship leaving Montreal and own over 265,000 hives. Beekeepers and farmers work
intended to stay hidden until safely out of Canadian together and understand the need for timely application
waters via the St. Lawrence River. After four days of pesticides.
without food or water, he pounded on the hatch and
Beekeepers are able to move bees at night, and may
was discovered by a ship’s officer and was nearly
require a day’s notice. A simpler precaution is to avoid
thrown off the ship at stops in Curaçao and Panama, spraying between the hours of 7 am to 7 pm as this is the
but local authorities forbade the ship’s captain from time bees will forage on blooming crops.
doing so. He would be along for the ride until their
final destination, Australia.
Unfortunately for Gregson, Australia police services
were able to share information with their Canadian Buy Your 2021 EAA AirVenture Tickets
counterparts, including fingerprint data of convicted
criminals. Within 20 minutes of docking in Brisbane, Purchase your EAA AirVenture Oshkosh admissions,
Gregson was arrested and on June 14, 1957, nearly camping, parking, flight experiences, and merchandise in
three days to the day, police asked if he had been advance.
wanted for a crime in Yellowknife, Canada. Upon his
It's fast and easy! With a few simple steps, you'll be
return to Canada, knowing that his time on the run inside the gates in no time and ready to take in
was up, Anthony Gregson pled guilty to the gold theft
AirVenture. You'll simply select weekly or daily tickets,
and even the prosecution urged leniency in
enter the number of tickets you'll need for each
sentencing, with Justice John Sissons handing down a category, pay by credit card using our secure online
mere 30 months.
system, print your bar-coded ticket(s), present your
No one was ever charged in the purchase of Gregson’s ticket at any entry point to receive your AirVenture
gold, as the majority of it was sold outside of wristband, and breeze through the lines. If you
Canadian jurisdiction and it was widely believed to purchased tickets at the preferred EAA member rate,
have been spent before police caught up to the thief. please be prepared to provide proof of membership
when you have your e-ticket scanned at the gate.
Note: The mint value of Gregson’s gold was
estimated to be approximately $54,000 in 1954. In AirVenture 2021 dates: Monday, July 26-Sunday, August
2020, that is approximately $522,383.21. 1. You may purchase a daily ticket for any of the seven
days, or a weekly pass, which includes all seven days.
Note: If your EAA membership is not current, please
click here to renew, and allow 48 hours for processing
before purchasing your tickets at member rates.
Early bird discounted pricing ends June 15, 2021.
NEW THIS YEAR! Free youth admission ages 18 and
under has been generously supported in part by:
