President Kim Sillers called the meeting to order at 1901.  (My watch might be a minute fast.  No, really.)

Members present:

Kim Sillers, Larry Putnam, Gary McKiddie, Jerry Jones, Judy Jones, Brooks Partridge, Gaetan Bourgault, J.P. Finck, Gilbert Belair, Dave Nainan, Tom Brown, Darien Neveu, John Covert, and Terri Wolski.

Guest: David Viitala

Minutes:

Jerry moved to approve the minutes, and Brooks seconded the motion.  The motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report:

Al Schwartz and Matthew McKinley were awarded two of our scholarships.  We have enough money for one more.  A young man from the Coast Guard has recently applied.

Adopt a Mile (from 6 to 7 Mile Roads) cashed in a whopping $1.60 from cans and bottles to add to the treasury!

Interpreter Search:

David Viitala attended the meeting to translate for Gaetan.  He will probably not be able to come to every meeting.  We discussed Gaetan’s presentation with David’s assistance.  It will be an inspirational story, but it may need more time to do it justice.  The consensus was that it could be a special presentation in itself for Soo Pilots and other interested guests.

FBO Report:

Fuel costs dropped 20 cents!

Darien reported that the insurance is all set for the Young Eagles flying event.

The city, the state, the attorney, the DEQ, and the airport board are still working on the wetlands approval issue.  Construction on the taxiway won’t begin until next year.  They want to do the work all at once, not in two different projects.  Larry suggested leveling and graveling the parallel taxiway the first year and paving it the next year.

Events Planning:

Young Eagles –

• Young Eagles day is June 11^th, and the rain date is June 12^th.
• Be here by 8:00 for a meeting with pilots and ground crew.
• Static display – walk through a preflight while waiting for flights.  (Gilbert did an awesome job last year.  He said he’d do it again – Saturday only.)
• Reminders for pilots: you must be an EAA member, have a valid medical, be “current,” have insurance, and bring a cell phone.  Fly at 2500’ and report at each checkpoint.
• In case of emergency, refer the media to Kim.
• Sandy will monitor the cookie table.  We might need to get her a big stick.  We plan to provide coffee, punch, and cookies.  We can get the needed supplies and stuff at Gordon’s and turn in the receipts for reimbursement.
• We will meet on Friday at 10:00 to set up tables and about 20 chairs.
• Pat McKiddie and Jan Sillers will print out the certificates with the kids’ names.
• We need to order more logbooks for the kids.
• We will also set up some educational displays along with the cockpit posters for handouts.

Fall Color Tour (October 1) – Tim Doyle would like to fly one at a time in his RV-9A.       

Adopt a Highway:

We will clean our two-mile stretch along M-129 between 6 Mile and 8 Mile Roads on Monday, July 11^th. We can meet in the Soo Township school parking lot at 5:15.  Afterward, we will have a barbeque at the airport.  Bring your own steak to grill.  (Did I get that part right?)

We watched a brief, informative, and entertaining video about safety guidelines for picking up trash.  So now we know.

Open Discussion:

Gaylord’s air show is on Saturday, June 18^th.  A pretty good-sized group was interested in flying down together.  It’s ever so much more fun that way!!

Next meeting:  June 27^th

Jerry made a motion to adjourn, and Dave seconded the motion.  The meeting adjourned at 2015.

Submitted by Terri Wolski

President Kim Sillers called the meeting to order at 1900 on the dot.

Members present:

Kim Sillers, Brooks Partridge, Jerry Jones, Judy Jones, Al Schwartz, Gaetan Bourgault, Gary McKiddie, Pat McKiddie, Gilbert Belair, Paul Young, Dean Paul, Tom Brown, Darien Neveu, and Terri Wolski.

Minutes:

Jerry moved to approve the minutes as corrected (Highway 129, I assume), and Brooks seconded the motion.  The motion seems to have passed.  I dunno.  I was LATE!

Treasurer’s Report:

Only one person, Al Schwartz, applied for our scholarship.  Tom Brown said that one more person will soon put in his application.  We have enough money to award three scholarships.

Interpreter Search:

Using a laptop is fine for now.

FBO Report:

The city and the airport board are working on the wetlands approval.  Construction on the taxiway won’t begin until next year.  They want to do the work on the taxiway all at once, not in two different projects.

Events Planning:

• City-wide Clean Up is May 14^th.

• Young Eagles day is June 11^th.
• Our Fall Color Tour will be October 1^st.
• The Steak Fly-In was scheduled for the opening weekend of Oshkosh, but many of the Soo Pilots will be gone.  We discussed changing the date.  Judy made a motion to table the issue, and Pat seconded it.
• The Michigan Air Tour will not be coming here this fall.         

Adopt a Highway:

We will clean our two-mile stretch along M-129 between 6 Mile and 8 Mile Roads on April 30^th.  If it rains, we will postpone it for a week.  We will meet at the Soo Township Elementary parking lot at 10:00.  Kim will bring vests and bags.  We’ll do it again in July and September.

Open Discussion:

The Spring Show is coming up soon.  It could be a way to promote the airport.

The Brimley Parade could be another way to get some positive attention for the airport.

Habitat for Humanity Restore has a nice new-ish table for $100.  We could purchase it for the airport to replace the older tables.

When can the grilling begin?  Not yet!  Discussion included the need for some kind of windbreak and the possibility of grilling out at the other building.  Or not.

Safety Presentation:

Dean Paul of the FAA Safety Team gave a very informative safety presentation about Runway Safety Awareness including radio communication with ATC.  (Some free FAA stuff was also involved – J)

Dean also talked about possible topics for future safety presentations.  He mentioned that the FSDO would pay for flyers if we open it up to other pilots in the state.

Next meeting:  May 23^rd

Darien made a motion to adjourn, and Jerry seconded the motion.  The meeting adjourned at 2035.

Submitted by Terri Wolski  (Many thanks to Pat McKiddie for taking notes at the beginning of the meeting.)

President Kim Sillers called the meeting to order at 1900 on the dot.

Members present:

Kim Sillers, Larry Putnam, Al Schwartz, Gaetan Bourgault, Gary McKiddie, Bob Schallip, Dave Nainan, Duncan McPhee, Jean-Paul Finck, Gilbert Belair, Bob Chartrand, Laura Kymes, Marty Wolski, and Terri Wolski.

Minutes:

Larry moved to approve the minutes as written, and Dave seconded the motion.  I think.  At least, I heard voices at that end of the table.  (Uh-oh.  I’m hearing voices.)  Anyway, nobody objected, so the minutes stand approved as written.

Treasurer’s Report:

Tom was out of town.

Interpreter Search:

We have no new developments on our search.

FBO Report:

The gutters are complete.

Fuel prices went up another fifteen cents.

Events Planning:

• City-wide Clean Up is probably May 7^th, but we still don’t know for sure yet.
• Groups can sign up to go to a weekend work party at Oshkosh.  Several weekend dates are open:

                        May 14-15

                        May 21-22

                        June 11-12

                        June 25-27(?)

                        July 9-10

                        July 16-17

• “International Learn to Fly Day” is May 21^st.  Check out the website and get some ideas for getting an adult interested in learning to fly.

Adopt a Highway:

Kim will show the brief safety video at the April 18^th meeting.  We will pick up trash along M-129 between 6 and 8 Mile Roads on Saturday, April 30^th.

Open Discussion:

Scholarship: We discussed the apparent lack of interest in our scholarship applications.  We have no new applications so far, and the advertised cutoff date is March 31^st.  We brainstormed some ideas to encourage new applicants from LSSU and local high schools.  Again.

Golf: It’s never to early to plan for an outing (according to the golfers)!

Float plane dock: The dock can go back in after the ice is out.  Bob, Andy, and a couple more big strong guys can probably get it done.  FYI: The dock handles over 100 operations per year.

Safety Presentation:

Gary Knaggs of the FAA Safety Team gave us a brief presentation about the WINGS Program.  Their website is <www.faasafety.gov> and check it out!  If you take two online courses, a seminar someplace, and fly with a flight instructor TO flight standards, you can reach another level in the WINGS Program.  He also mentioned that statistics have suggested that training is needed for pilots who transition to smaller light sport airplanes, especially concerning fuel management.

Gary also officially awarded two plaques to Bob Schallip for winning the “2010 Aviation Maintenance Technician of the Year Award” from the Grand Rapids FSDO and the Regional level, too.  He said many nice things about Bob, and everyone agreed with him!

Next meeting:  April 18^th

Someone made a motion to adjourn, and Dave seconded the motion.  I heard the voices down at the other end of the table again!  The meeting adjourned at 1955.

Submitted by Terri and Marty Wolski

President Kim Sillers called the meeting to order at 1900.

Members present:

Kim Sillers, Larry Putnam, Dean Paul, Jerry Jones, Judy Jones, Gary McKiddie, Al Schwartz, Gaetan Bourgault, Bob Schallip, Tom Brown, Dave Nainan, Lou Behling, Duncan McPhee, Gilbert Belair, Jean-Paul Finck, Darien Neveu, Jim Tucker, Marty Wolski, and Terri Wolski.

Minutes:

Jerry pointed out that Young Eagles pilots are NOT reimbursed for fuel.  Dave moved to approve the minutes as corrected, and Bob seconded the motion.

Treasurer’s Report:

The balance is now $4844.20.

Interpreter Search:

We’re still having a hard time finding a local interpreter for Gaetan.  Dean volunteered to check on borrowing a headset from the high school to see if that will help.

Scholarship Form Update:

Mike Mugavero (Terri’s soon-to-be son-in-law) was awarded the Soo Pilots Scholarship from the fall round of applications.  We have enough funds for two (or even three!) more scholarships in the next round.  That deadline is March 31, 2011.  We could check with the counselors at all of the local high schools to see if any students might be interested in applying. 

FBO Report:

Ground school has started with five LSSU students.  Pilots are welcome to attend to lend support and encouragement.

Security Gate Lock: 

The security gate is up and operational.  It may need a better return spring.

Events Planning:

• We will need to take care of the insurance for the Young Eagles and the Fall Color Tour at least 30 days ahead of time.
• City-wide Clean Up is probably May 7^th, but we don’t know for sure yet.

Adopt a Highway:

Kim had no new information about this yet.  Materials should come soon.  We will get the safety vests from the County Garage.

Open Discussion:

Safety Seminars:

• Bob has arranged for Gary Knaggs from the FAA to come to our March meeting to talk about the FAAST/Wings program.
• April 18^th (adjusted date) – Dean Paul got “voluntold” that he can do the safety talk, depending on whether he has to be at that School Board thing.  Dean also volunteered to contact Tom Krashen about doing a presentation sometime in the future.
• May 23^rd (also somewhat adjusted) – Bob Schallip got “voluntold” for this one.

Bob recently did the annual on the Warrior, and he found excessive carbon on the lower spark plugs.  He suggested that we need to lean the engine whenever possible.

The next meeting will be on March 28^th.

We revisited the previous discussion/brainstorming about encouraging college and high school students to apply for the scholarship.

Bob mentioned a little runway by Duluth’s aerial lift bridge (Sky Harbor) that was fun and unique.  It runs along a narrow spit of land, and it’s barely 5′ above water level.

Jerry made a motion to adjourn, and Kim seconded the motion.  The meeting adjourned at 1950.

Submitted by Terri and Marty Wolski