The Marquette County Board of Commissioners earlier this week took a small bit of action it should have been taken years ago.

The panel voted unanimously to rename Sawyer airport, changing it from Sawyer International Airport to Marquette Sawyer Regional Airport.

Put another way, going forward, the airport is going to be called something that it is, as opposed to something that it is not.

“I think I was on the board when we named it Sawyer International Airport and I never liked that ‘international’ in our name because it misleads people and it’s like we’re trying to be something we weren’t,” said Commissioner Bill Nordeen.

We couldn’t agree more. But context is important here and recalling that time immediately after the U.S. Air Force packed up and left is important, if one wonders why the ‘international’ name was added.

Putting it bluntly, there were a lot of very big and very unrealistic ideas floating around about what was likely to happen at Sawyer, post Air Force. The international component of the airport name was a part of that.

As the years passed, Sawyer, it’s residents and businesses have found their way just fine. There’s plenty of great things going on at Sawyer these days, and the airport is one part of that.

We applaud the county board for finally recognizing that and making a change many residents believe should have been made long ago.