All About the Breakfast | Advice for flying in | Volunteer at the fly-in
LATEST PLANNING INFORMATION
4/19/23
There were two big stories coming out of the planning meeting held at the Chapter House. First, we have finalized the menu: pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, coffee, juice, milk. And second, Paul Evenson has agreed to be the chairperson of the aircraft marshaling team, as it was decided we would not wait any longer to hear from a Civil Air Patrol squadron.
The addition of eggs and frozen ready-to-brown sausage will require at least two, maybe three, Blackstone grills. Jay Schrankler has agreed to let us use one if he can get some help bringing it over from the badlands of Wisconsin. We need another. Got one? The chapter will, of course, pay for the propane.
Jim Pearsall is the chief procurement officer. He is going to use WalMart as the source for menu items and, at Ed Trudeau's suggestions, ask about a $500 credit Walmart gives to non-profits holding events. Our goal is to keep the total cost per meal served (all costs) to under $5. It was agreed we would again charge $10 for adults, $5 for kids 6-12 and under 6 eat free, as do the PICs (Pilots in Command) of aircraft flying in. Volunteers are allowed to eat free but they will be reminded that we're trying to raise money for a charitable cause.
Don's Sugar Shack in Taylors Falls is again going to supply maple syrup and have plenty available for sale.
Now that the menu is finalized, Bob Collins will file the application with the Washington County Health Department.
Leif Erickson sent a draft PR and marketing plan which mirrored last year's. We're still looking for a protege to study our plan and take on the role at a future time. Nonetheless we are making additions. We'll have 30 yard signs at a few strategic intersections that will go in on Monday August 4. For example, the red light at 30th Street. That will give us a tremendous number of "impressions." We'll also ask members who live in the vicinity (Marlon's house is perfect!) to display one for a week.
We're also going to create "door hangars" with $5 off (the total family cost) coupons for the neighborhood across the street. There are 300 houses there and they like airplanes and it's past time we welcome them to get to know us and allow us to thank them for their support at a time when a vocal minority is getting attention for their anti-airport rhetoric.
We will also consider placing ads on Facebook and Google properties. We will also contact all EAA chapters in MN, Iowa, and Wisconsin and encourage them to visit us.
And when Bruce Olson comes back from Arizona, he'll be asked to create a flyer for the event. We will be organizing a "fly-out" to physically post them on bulletin boards at airports in the region (for example, Brainerd, Mauston, Rice Lake, Mankato). That's in addition to Leif sending files to airport managers asking them to print and post. We REALLY need to increase the number of planes flying in.
To that end, Paul Evenson agreed to be the chairperson if the aircraft marshalling division and will work with airport officials and the FAA as necessary to develop a plan. A section of the website will have information for inbound pilots. It is already in place based on last year's plans but will be changed as Paul deems necessary. It is Paul's belief that a temporary FAA tower is in our best interest so he will pursue that.
It was agreed there will be mandatory training session ahead of time for aircraft marshals.
The aircraft marshal team will also include greeters who, like Oshkosh, welcome each arriving airplane, make sure their master switch is off and give out coupons to the PIC. We will need volunteers to serve as a POP (Protect Our Planes) patrol to keep people from doing things that people tend to like to do that they shouldn't be doing. Inquire within. We will also be looking for aircraft judges with the idea we'll give out a plaque or something for various categories. That may offer more incentive, especially for homebuilts, to fly in. No heavy lifting involved for volunteers. The idea of having a "people's choice" category will require someone to coordinate the effort. Again: inquire within.
Ed Trudeau, the chairperson for parking, reports he has enough volunteers, even if twice the number of people show up this year. Some may be reassigned.
Volunteer assignments are already made and are posted on the volunteer page of our chapter website's Pancake Fly-in section.
Jay Schrankler reported there are two sponsors who will have exhibit tables - Lake Elmo Aero and Perceptive Avionics. We would like to find two more. There will also be a Chapter 54 table staffed by the president, Young Eagles representatives, and scholarship recipients.
At present we do not have enough volunteers to properly stage a fly-in for 800 people. At that scale we probably need another 20 or so. Because of the low response, we are eliminating shifts. Volunteers will work 8-12. Ideally, as Gregg Adler suggested, we will have a "bullpen" of people who can be deployed to give people short breaks.
Jay Schrankler has agreed to take over volunteer recruitment. Expect a call. Or avoid the hassle and go here.
Special thanks to John Tangen, Guy Freeman, and Paul Skluzacek, who are the latest to volunteer.
The next planning meeting is Wednesday May 14 at 6:30 pm at the Chapter House. A Google Meet feed will also be provided.
3/29/25
A meeting was held on Saturday March 29 with chapter members interested in volunteering during the event. Among the topics discussed were changes in assignments from last year. Marlon Gunderson is working with the Anoka Civil Air Patrol to see if they would take over the role of aircraft marshalling and take the task completely out of our hands. CAP is reportedly considering the insurance requirements and we hope to have a decision by the next planning meeting, which is scheduled for 10 a.m., Saturday April 19 at the chapter house.
It was determined we will NOT be requesting a temporary FAA control tower and frequency this year. We are considering whether we want a member to occasionally broadcast advisories over CTAF, although there is some concern about liability. We will work with airport officials to append a message to AWOS advising of additional traffic because of the fly-in.
Publicity was another area where we want to increase our exposure. We will hold a fly-out event for members to help distribute flyers to airports around Minnesota and around Wisconsin. We will also target the neighborhood across the street from the airport (about 300 homes). We will leaflet the neighborhood with door hangars which we will have printed. These families have elected to live next to an airport and it's high time we invite them over to get to know us and for us to get to know them and thank them for supporting 21D. We have minor disagreement over whether or how to structure a "neighbor's discount" but we didn't talk about it much. This will be resolved at the next meeting on April 19.
We will also post "lawn signs" at major intersection near the airport one week in advance.
We hope to substantially improve the drive-in attendance this year through increased advertising and outreach, and also by attracting more aircraft to the event.
This year we will provide judging of aircraft whose owners choose to participate, awarding plaques in 3 or 4 categories such as "best homebuilt", "best vintage" etc. We're open to category suggestions.
And we will create a web page within the EAA Chapter 54 website with airport and parking instructions for arriving aircraft and will use a QR code linking to the page in our advertising flyers going out to other airports. This page will probably exist within the "pancake breakfast" section
We agreed to plan for about 800 attendees, which is about what we had planned for last year. We got about half of the planned attendance, despite perfect weather, thus the emphasis on more outreach and advertising. A general price of $10 (same as last year) was agreed upon. We still have to fiddle with other pricing (kids' price?). Pilots-in-command eat free. Volunteers are entitled to eat free although we encourage chapter members to remember that we are trying to raise money for our youth outreach activities and consider making a donation when eating.
We have not yet settled on a menu. We'd like to reduce the cost of sausage, eliminate the sugary fruit cocktail, perhaps add french toast, and add a healthier fruit option, although we're not quite sure how to do that yet. We will be meeting with the Washington County Board of Health in the near future to evaluate what we are capable of with limited facilities. Some food preparation may occur at the Chapter House and we would like to eliminate the use of the giant "beast" chiller and utilize the refrigeration at the Chapter House (thus the need for "runners"). Anyone have a golf cart?
Depending on whether we add french toast to the menu, we may need a Blackstone griddle. Do any chapter members have one? We are reluctant at this time to add chapter assets and would rather borrow one.
We want to be more sustainable, eliminating styrofoam cups, for example, and replacing with paper (as we've done at the chapter house, you may have noticed).
A site for the event has not yet been selected although we would like to hold it in last year's spot if the hangar owners are agreeable, moving the grill outside to protect the hangar floor or putting down a temporary plywood floor to protect it.
The idea of renting an exhibit table for other organizations ($50 was suggested) is being considered.
A form has been created to try to ascertain the areas of interest and number of volunteers. It is available here and we're asking all members to submit it as soon as possible, and, yes, we will totally be browbeating you over the next few months until you volunteer.
