Getting to Know Emily Westcott (Woman Aviator)

GETTING TO KNOW EMILY WESTCOTT (WOMAN AVIATOR)

Emily Westcott, volunteer extraordinaire, first became interested in flying when, after making several many-hour trips to Orcas Island to visit friends, she chartered a plane for the trip. Arriving at Orcas after a 25-minute flight to the island, she told the pilot she was ready to learn to fly.

When she got home on Sunday she drove to Rite Brothers and Roger Hansen suggested she attend his ground school at Peninsula Community College the next day, which she did. She took flying lessons in a C-172 with Roger, getting her private pilot’s license in 1996.

She bought her C-172 in 2000, the plane she still flies today.

She grew up in Tacoma, became a Coug at Washington State University, and obtained her Masters in Counseling at Oregon State University and her Administration credentials at the University of Puget Sound. She was the Vice Principal at Port Angeles High School for six years and taught at the Choice Alternative School in Port Angeles for eleven years. She retired from teaching in 1998 and continues as a substitute teacher at Sequim High School.

In 1980, Emily and her husband bought the Red Ranch Motel and Restaurant in Sequim, which was sold in 2003. Emily ran the restaurant by herself the last few years.

As Christmas holidays approached, once again Emily made plans to beautify the town. The flower baskets which hang on the light posts along Washington Avenue were first started when Emily was a member of the Retail Trade, a merchant association. The objective of the association was to promote the town and its merchants. The creation of 75 flower baskets was originally done by a private company, but was becoming expensive as the number and size of the baskets increased each year.

In 1995, Emily asked the horticulture teacher, Derrell Sharp, at the high school if she could use his students to help put together the baskets. Since then, the students have been making 150 baskets each year with Emily overseeing the project. She also is instrumental in hanging all of the lights in the downtown area during the holiday season. When Christmas is over, she directs the dismantling and goes through all the strings of lights, replacing bulbs when necessary.

She was instrumental in putting up lights at Carrie Blake Park for the Sunshine Festival on the first week-end in March 2020. She has also been a volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club Yearly Auction.

Emily flies EAA 430 Young Eagles each summer. She is one of the organizers of Air Affair at Sequim Valley Airport.

Besides sharing her time, talents and resources with our community, she shares her Cessna 172 with others who need a ride or love to fly but don’t have an airplane.