Pancake breakfast 2026 was huge hit
by Marlon Gunderson
(See more photos from the event)
Our Fly In Breakfast fundraiser evolved a little this year from those past. The most immediately noticeable change was the venue. I think you'll all agree that the new MAC maintenance building is a fabulous space to hold this event. Huge open doors look out over the ramp, taxiway, and airfield, accessibility is great for drive up drop offs, and the size is large enough to fit the kitchen, dining, and displays comfortably with everything under roof in the event of rain. With this venue I think folks from the local community start to feel that they are visiting something they own and can be proud of rather than visiting someone else's private enterprise that they might envy or feel disconnected or excluded from.
Our free will donation book selection that started last year with a collection from the Wier family was expanded this year with a large collection of aviation books and art generously donated by Jim Anderson's family and curated by Gregg Adler, and the Wier family themselves set up 6 large tables containing many hundreds of model aircraft donated to provide to our guests for free. It was great to see so many kids walking around clutching a favorite airplane they picked up from the tables. The free will donations inspired by these items provides a nice kicker for our fundraising.
The biggest change this year was a bit of a surprise. I didn't know until 4 days before the event that we would get dozens of Stillwater High School Honor students volunteering for us. We had discussions with school administrators months ago about what help we might need and when I never heard anything else about it I assumed it hadn't found any traction. But about 15 high schoolers showed up to help at the event, and a similar number for setup and teardown. This made a huge difference. All of our volunteers were afforded the opportunity to get a break and have breakfast, and the young folks injected a new energy into the whole enterprise. They did a great job helping with auto parking, cooking in the kitchen, serving in the serving line, carrying food out to tables for our diners, helping set out beverages, and greeting guests as they arrived. We'll definitely make this a tradition going forward. Big thanks to Luke Peterson for making that connection.
We had a great turnout and my own random sampling of guests revealed that they were drawn to the event mostly from the road signs or from social media. I met the guy who built the nice new home right across 30th street under the runway 22 departure path. He has 2 preschool kids and is interested in aviation and wants to start lessons some time. I encouraged him to come to a meeting pointing out that no one would have a shorter drive to the chapter house (he lives closer than even Jack Miller was when Jack was in the barndominium on 30th).
Initial numbers from Emma shows we served 640 meals this year, up from 550 last year. Top line number from sales and donations is $6684. Expenses and reimbursements will trickle in so it'll be a bit before we have a net result but I'm confident we'll exceed last year's very good result.
I hope everyone who volunteered feels appreciated for their contribution. This event could not happen without all the energy and enthusiasm our volunteers bring. It astounds me how much work this is and yet how easily we actually handle it because everyone pitches in and pulls together. Accomplishing something like this is what builds community, and we all need more of that.
There are many to thank but in my mind none more so than Craig Mueller who's stamp was on much of the event. Craig inaugurated the book sale dimension last year with a collection of books from the Weir family. That expanded to the hundreds of model aircraft the Weir family set up to find new homes, and then a huge infusion of books and aviation art from the Anderson family that Gregg Adler added to the mix. Craig arranged for all of the government service related aircraft that came in including DNR aircraft and Life Link helicopter and Pilatus, and fire trucks and K9 unit from local fire departments and Sheriff's office. And Craig was Jay's right hand man running the Marshalling and ATC team. Thanks Craig for providing the FAA Tower trailer and generator, and for setup and teardown work.
Thanks to Jay Schrankler for organizing and leading the Marshalling team (Craig Mueller, Paul Rankin, Dave Syverson, Barry Dayton, Matt Cooper, John Gozum, and Paul Skluzacek) and FAA Tower efforts (Keith Thompson and Brandon) and all the setup and teardown work he did with his truck and trailer.
Thanks to Luke Peterson for buying door hangers and (his son) Karl who door dropped 250 door hangers in Easton Village and Legacy Northstar (developed neighborhoods in Lake Elmo). Luke is the co-chair of the Lake Elmo Airport Advisory Committee; thanks to his work there he connected us with Stillwater High school and we ended up with dozens of Honor Society students helping us out with their required volunteer hours. Everyone was delighted to work with these kids and they did a great job helping out on the auto parking team, the kitchen teams, the serving team, the beverage team, and the table team, as well as with set up and tear down.
Thanks to Gregg Adler for his work on displaying the Anderson book and aviation art collection, for running up to Anoka to pick up our Sysco wholesale food order on Saturday morning, followed immediately by a run with Bill Schanks down to Lakeville to pick up the Pancake grill, followed by hours of setup and teardown work with his truck and trailer.
Thanks to Bruce Olson and Al Kupferschmidt for picking up and returning the Lion's Club trailer with tables and chairs and helping get those set up and removed. And Bruce for again successfully leading the Pancake Grill team (John Roznick, John Dekko, Scott Hanson, Donaven Chase, Dan Yokum, and Al Knutson).
Thanks to Bill Schanks for the grill run and for leading the Egg Grilling team (Jeff Hove, Guy Freeman, Dave Harvey) with our two new grills that enabled us to keep up with demand this year.
Thanks to Dan Theis for his Jeep and trailer assistance during setup and teardown, for leading the Sausage Grilling team (Chip Berniard) and for his indefatigable work during setup and tear down, including organizing and stowing the stuff in the chapter house.
Thanks to Bob Collins for procuring supplies, setting up the cleaning stations, putting up road signs, helping with setup and teardown and restowing supplies, mixing with the crowd and working it for pictures and stories, and bringing a great RV-12 to display at the event.
Thanks to John and Nancy Ostrem for leading the Serving Team (Vicky Moore, Steve Brown, Carrie Freeman, Kirsten) and for their help during setup and teardown and for helping our high schoolers integrate into our teams.
Thanks to Roger Westerberg for leading the Beverage Serving team (Lee O'Neal, Phyllis and Walter Jaworski) and keeping the Coffee, Tang, and Milk flowing throughout the morning, and related setup and teardown.
Thanks to Dan and Karen Bergstrom for leading the Table Care team (Jennifer Hanson, Pam Renhelt), setup and teardown work, and for dedicating Jennifer to greet and direct folks as they entered the building.
Thanks to Mike Graczyk for taking over for Ed Trudeau (and to Ed for organizing the team and doing the prep work) to lead the Auto Parking team (Neil Shoenheider, Don Wishard, Stan Ross, Woon Yi Hanson, Mike Phernetton) and finding room for all the drive in traffic we had.
Thanks to Emma and Luke Hanson for running our ticket and payment table with efficiency and aplomb despite a severe case of Oslo jet lag. I hope Harry and
Al were able to give you a break at some point, and thanks to Harry Holmberg for the Milk and Ice run early Sunday.
Thanks to Dale Seitzer for leading the Chapter 54 table team (Ellory Berniard, Joe Brown, Anna Chase, Ben Renhelt, Echo Phernetton, Blake Karnuth), putting together a slide show, and sharing the story of our youth programs with visitors.
Thanks to Niki Paton and Johan Neilson for working as relievers and floaters to give members a break and fill in for unforseen tasks.
We all also need and want to thank MAC and our airport manager Phil Tiedeman for providing an amazing event space this year along with bottled water, trash receptacles, and porta potties. And thanks to MAC Regional Airports Community Relations Coordinator Jennifer Lewis for driving up to experience our event and lend support. We appreciate your trust in our organization to manage an event in the public buildings under your care safely and for the benefit of the local community.
Thanks to each and every one of you who pitched in to make this day successful and memorable. I couldn't be happier with how the day turned out for all of us.
Cheers!
Marlon Gunderson
President EAA Ch.54
