The EAA Young Eagles program has special meaning to members of Chapter 1434. On Tuesday, September 8, 2009, our Chapter, EAA in general and young people with an interest in aviation in particular, lost a great friend when George Rybarczyk passed away suddenly.
George was an active helicopter and fixed wing pilot and his enthusiasm in sharing the joys of flight with everyone especially kids, will be a void that will be hard to fill and he will be sorely missed.
Less than a year after George's untimely departure, our Treasurer and a "treasure" to us, our good friend Bennett Scheuer, also left us prematurely in August 2010. Bennett's overall enthusiasm and joyful spirit was an inspiration to us all. Bennett was not only active with those Young Eagles but also volunteered in his community helping other young people outside of aviation. He had recently purchased an RV 12 kit and was fulfilling his dream of building his own aircraft. His brother, Lee, graciously donated the kit to our chapter and two of our members purchased it and have built and flown it in Bennett's honor.
With contributions in lieu of flowers in memory of George, that our chapter has received, along with the proceeds of the sale of Bennett's kit, we have established the EAA 1434 Memorial Scholarship. This enables us to offer scholarships to young people interested in attending Aviation Career Education (ACE) Camp or a similar endeavor.