Volunteers Are the KEY to Any Organization!!

Thank You for All You Do.

Gosh, I tell ya, volunteers are the backbone of any organization like we have going here at EAA 430. Plain and simple, we have such a great group of enthusiastic volunteers I am truly thankful to be involved with these men and women.

We have a decent place to hold meetings. There are a great bunch of folks that help set up and tear down after the meeting. There are even some folks sweeping the floors to my surprise. One person brings some wood for the warming of the hangar. Others get the coffee, the cookies etc. When its summer out there is a great group of folks that put on a great cook out. Hamburgers, hot dogs, all the trimmings and deserts. YUM! One volunteer does all the cooking and does a great job of it.

Then let’s get the Young Eagle Program. We have a volunteer and his wife that makes sure everything is put together. I have seen him and his wife out putting the signs for the event. He and his volunteers researching the best way to get the word out and getting commitments from pilots to show up with their prize possession, to safely share the Joy of Flight with youngers. These pilots make sure their airplanes and their skills are up to the task of flying safely all day. They put together a flight path and altitudes so as not to wake up sleepy Sequim.

To all the people that get the event underway and making a seem less transition from all the paperwork when these super excited kids and parents walk up to the booth, to the walk to the airplane for the flight. This requires a ton of cooperation from all involved.

Then you have the actual flight. The Pilots are working all month making sure they are current and in good health along with the same for their airplanes. As Tom Hart always said: “Takeoffs are Optional but Landings are Mandatory.” So, a lot of time, gas, oil, have been put into the event of flying safely around Sequim.

Then there are the Volunteers who, through a lot of work, got our charitable paperwork in order so folks could donate to the Chapter and get a tax deduction. Well done folks!

We had some great fly outs organized to local airports to see some great airplanes. Not to mention the fly out to see the Eclipse. A couple guys got together one day in the last few weeks and painted the Tetrahedral so it stands out. I think it’s the brightest one I have ever seen.

We have a member volunteer that fixed and then did the maintenance on the Rotating Beacon, that had been inop for years. He rebuilt the darn thing and then had an article showing how he did it and for crying out load how many revolutions it would make before it would need the bulb replaced. As I remember he was dead on that estimate.

We have a Board of Directors that meets every month to plan the actual meeting. These events all take time and planning.

We all benefit from this and in my opinion, we have a great group. It always amazes me that when some volunteer has had enough for a while, someone else steps up and helps out. So, I implore everyone to get involved with this EAA 430 Chapter. The success depends on you. Come to the meetings. Buy a hat. Get involved. Thanks! What can you bring to the table to make this an even better organization?

Looking forward to a great Christmas Party on December 2, 2017. Be there. Get your reservations ASAP, come see ol’ friends and make some new ones.

Looking forward to an even better 2018! .

Mike Radford