FARMVILLE — Mayor Sydnor C. Newman, Jr.’s reelection bid is heading toward the taxi-way.

“Yes, sir, I’ve thought about it,” the 82-year-old said Monday about his decision to run in 2014, “and I think I will.”

Newman joined town council in 1976 and was first elected mayor in 1998.

An avid pilot, Newman spends some part of every day at the Farmville Regional Airport, taking off and landing at the site that will soon bear his name, Newman Field, at least twice a week.

Town Council voted in November to add Newman Field to the airport’s identification—the Farmville Regional Airport-Newman Field—and a formal ceremony is planned in November.

“I really enjoy being on the council,” Newman said, explaining his continued public service. “I enjoy working with all the Town personnel. I have a good time doing it.”

Newman can’t imagine a retiring retirement. The former businessman tries to stay as active each day as he can.

“When I retired from the concrete plant (W. C. Newman Company, Inc.) I just can’t sit back and do nothing. Normally, I go out to the airport every day. I go by the Town Office first and, say, for 30 minutes or so I sign a couple of checks and talk with Gerry (Town Manager Gerald Spates) and after that I usually go to the airport. In fact, I just walked in the door a minute ago from the airport.”

Whether getting out his tools for hands-on mechanic work on his plane or taking to the skies, Farmville’s mayor isn’t ready to sit back in a hangar and watch other people stay busy.

“I thoroughly enjoy playing with airplanes and things,” he said.

And now he’s readying to take off on a reelection bid that, if successful, would see him pass the 40-year mark on town council. The mayor’s next term would expire in 2018.