Answering the dinner bell for a good cause

The Experimental Aircraft Association has done a great service for general aviation by establishing nearly 1,000 independent chapters based in communities all over the world.

Each of those chapters develops its own personality and mission over time. Some are relatively small, sometimes populated by only a handful of older gentlemen who principally drink coffee and complain about the state of the industry at large.

Others are a bit more ambitious. EAA Chapter 1240 in Sebring, Florida, falls solidly into the latter group.

Like so many of the other chapters, the folks in Sebring host a number of get-togethers throughout the year. Its Saturday morning pancake breakfasts have achieved near legendary status. Floor space in the hangar accommodates dozens of local and transient visitors, all of whom throw a few bucks into a bucket in exchange for a morning meal — although the real purpose of the breakfast is to raise funds for one of the most productive and inspirational youth programs in the region.

If the weather cooperates, Young Eagle flights often cap off breakfast for a good number of young hopefuls.

Sebring is the county seat for Highlands County, Florida. Representing a good-sized chunk of land in the southern third of the Florida peninsula, this is one of those relatively poor agricultural corners of the world. The kind of place reporters used to do exposes on, highlighting the plight of the locals. Less well covered is the extraordinary lengths those locals have gone to in an effort to help themselves and their neighbors.

This self-help spirit is what inspired me to saddle up and travel south to attend a very special dinner in a decidedly unusual space.

The members of EAA Chapter 1240 packed a collection of tables and chairs into an impressively expansive hangar on the grounds of Sebring Regional Airport (KSEF). The theme of the evening was aeronautical, to be sure. Spotlessly appointed with three aircraft positioned on the periphery of the hangar, the space was awash with pilots, mechanics, homebuilders, and their partners all gathered for a wonderful night out.

Rubbing elbows with folks on the upper end of the age scale while scarfing down calories wasn’t the point of the evening, however. This annual dinner is the upgraded version of the popular pancake breakfast the chapter hosts throughout the year. In both cases, the point is to raise funds to support a thriving youth program that includes the chapter, the Highlands County School System, and various employers on the field.

In Highlands County it is possible for a teenager to take classes for high school credit that focus on aviation. Students from all three high schools in the county travel to the airport weekly, in yellow school buses, to put their lessons in theory to work in the EAA Chapter 1240 hangar.

These kids build airplanes. They learn to manage complex problems and projects. They work and network alongside people who can mentor and guide them to a brighter future than they might have imagined possible. And they do all this thanks to the generous support of an ever-growing population of folks who see the benefit in jumping aboard to lend a helping hand.

Amidst all the hobnobbing of the night, key members of the chapter keep the train rolling down the tracks in an organized fashion.

Mike Halpern is a past president of the chapter and a valued mentor who works with the high school students in the classroom and hangar. Mike caught the aviation bug as severely as anyone and his enthusiastic embrace of its potential to transform lives for the better is evident in everything he does. His relationship with these kids is a major component of the bridge that takes them from a typical high school experience to one that includes pilot training, engineering, and mechanics.

Mae Lee Gilroy is hard at work, too. A long-time restaurateur with strong ties to the community, Mae Lee manages a program that teaches high school students to work in the food services industry. Her team of teenagers prepared and served the dinner with distinction and pride.

These kids, with the help of the men and women gathered in the hangar that night, are learning to be professional, productive members of society. They’ve got goals and plans and the tools to turn those plans into a reality. This isn’t just a dinner. It’s an inspirational experience.

Perhaps the most jubilant guests to walk away from dinner that night were Isaiah Jackson and Carter Hendrickson. Each walked away as a beneficiary of a $12,000 flight training scholarship provided by the James C. Ray Foundation and EAA Chapter 1240. The Ray Foundation picks up 75% of the bill. The chapter takes care of the other 25%.

It was a good night. A very good night, indeed.

As I made my way back home after dinner, I couldn’t help but consider the potential if a percentage of EAA chapters across the land followed in the footsteps of Chapter 1240 and the fine people of Highlands County. If only 10% saw the light and cloned this program in their own communities, what a remarkable outcome that could produce. The idea that thousands upon thousands of high school students could be exposed to and become experienced in an industry that can provide them with gainful employment for a lifetime would be a major achievement.

For those kids to learn how to manage projects, work as a team, take responsibility for their work, and set high standards for themselves and their peers — it’s all good. And it’s all possible. The roadmap that can make it happen is in Sebring, Florida, for anyone to emulate and modify to their own means, right now.

If EAA Chapter 1240 can do it (and it did) you can probably do it too.

It’s worth a try at least. Who knows? You might make a real success of it.