Recognize Your Volunteers

June 2018 - Chapter 939 has numerous events during the year, and we are always gratified to have sufficient volunteers to support these events. We have approximately 40 members, and most participate in our activities. We feel very fortunate.

We want our volunteers to feel appreciated, and we ensure they do by feeding them. At every meeting and event, we provide a meal for our volunteers. Not hot dogs and hamburgers, but a home-cooked meal along with delicious homemade desserts. We make sure that all of our volunteers are mentioned and thanked in our monthly newsletter along with pictures showing the fun we all are having. Often, they get a separate thank-you card. This year, we have started naming an Outstanding Volunteer for our big events.

In April, we had our annual Wings & Wheels event. This is our big fundraiser to send a youngster to EAA’s Air Academy. We had 65 show cars and 20 aircraft, including a jet, at the event plus many people from the community. We have a pancake breakfast, a lunch service, T-shirts for sale, and registration and trophies for the cars and aircraft. It is a fun but busy day. There is a lot of setup and teardown for this event in addition to the activities the day of the event. We often have work parties prior to the event to make signs and other things we may need.

It is hard to pick the Outstanding Volunteer, but for this event Jeff Wiegand, EAA 1012633, was the obvious choice. Jeff participated in the work parties prior to the event, and he came out the day before the event to help with setup. On the day of the event Jeff arrived at 7 a.m. to get the griddle set up and then flipped pancakes. At 11:15 a.m., he moved over to other griddle to cook the hot dogs and hamburgers. If that wasn’t enough, he stayed to help with all of the cleanup and teardown at the end of the day. Jeff never stopped working during the day. He gives his all to the chapter and is a real team player. Thank you, Jeff!

I enjoy the chapter activities and trying to make these events fun for our members and volunteers, as well as for the general public. However, the volunteers are the ones who make the events work so that everyone can have a good time. Thank you, volunteers!