Open house for new EAA chapter

CLINTONVILLE – More than 40 people attended an open house at the Clintonville Municipal Airport Jan. 15 for the newly formed EAA Chapter 1710, encompassing the Clintonville and Shawano airports.
At the open house, EAA Chapter 1710 President Mathieu Labs unveiled the logo for the new chapter, which officially became a chapter in November of last year.
The vision for the chapter first began in 2020, when Clintonville City Administrator Caz Muske was hired as the deputy city administrator. One of her duties at that time was to oversee the city’s public works department, which included managing Clintonville Municipal Airport.
“I had a great mentor, Mike McCord, he was very knowledgeable and was with the city for decades,” Muske told the Tribune-Gazette. “One of the things that he had said, was we really need to get more activity here (airport), and there’s this thing called EAA. I knew nothing about it. I’m from Texas. I don’t know much about aviation. That stuck with me, so working with him and trying to get some traction, it just never happened.”
Muske said she began working with the EAA on creating a chapter in Clintonville around 2021, but not much progress was made until the end of 2023 when she connected with the manager of the Shawano Municipal Airport, who also expressed interested in helping form a local EAA chapter.

When Muske connected with Labs, it was full steam ahead for the creation of a new EAA chapter. In October of last year, Labs agreed to be the president of the chapter.
Labs, who was a member of a different EAA chapter when Muske reached out to him, said he was considering leaving that chapter.
“I started talking to Caz and Colin (manager of Shawano Municipal Airport), and they were still looking for a president after a month, and I just said, ‘You know what. I’ll do it,’” Labs said.“Somebody has to step up and take it over, and I already have the leadership experience, and so does my wife. I have a lot of good connections with the EAA. What we’ve done with this chapter, most chapters would take 5-10 years to do. We’re already on the map.”

Chapter formation
Labs said it is a long process to be recognized as an official EAA chapter.

“Basically, you have to have an EAA number, you have to register with the state, you have to have a minimum of 10 members, all EAA members, you have to follow guidelines, and you have to create your own bylaws, which probably took us two months to do,” Labs said. “It’s a lot of things that EAA wants so you can be on their insurance. We have events where we are on EAA insurance. You can also apply for a 501(c)(3) (nonprofit), which is what we’re doing so we can start to get donations. After that we can get a raffle license. To be on EAA’s insurance, they have a lot of requirements. It’s vigorous. If you have the people with the right mindset, you can get it done.”
Because at least 10 committed members are required for the creation of a new EAA chapter, Muske said that was the reason it so long for the Clintonville and Shawano EAA chapter to become official.
“I think that was the hardest part, because, especially in small towns, everybody wears multiple hats,” Muske said. “They’re all serving for all the same organizations. So, the hardest part was getting leadership to step up and say, ‘Ok, I will help lead this.’”
The Clintonville and Shawano EAA Chapter 1710 has 20 members as of the date of the open house.

Chapter benefits

Muske said having an official EAA chapter will showcase the value of the airport in the city of Clintonville.
“There’s a lot of community members that don’t even know we have an airport,” Muske said. “For me, I was tasked by our elected officials to bring activity, to work with Mike McCord before he left and to find ways to bring more awareness, and to show the value of what this is.
“Historically speaking, the birthplace of an airline was here in Clintonville.So, Delta Airlines, a couple of mergers back, started North Central Airlines here in Clintonville. So, it’s a huge historic monument of our community that I feel like has been lost in translation. With my elected officials, they want to bring that back and show the value of aviation, and how our community specifically has a history in aviation, and making sure that we don’t forget that awesome history that we have in the community.”
Muske added that teaming up with the Shawano Municipal Airport makes sense because “there is power in resources coming together and partnering.”
Having airports working together to form one EAA chapter is not a new concept. Labs said the EAA chapter in Rice Lake encompasses 10 airports, while an EAA chapter in Illinois has 20 airports as part of the chapter.

Chapter activities
The monthly meetings for the chapter will be held in Clintonville and Shawano, alternating between the two airports each month. Over the course of the next year, different speakers will speak at the meetings on topics related to aviation.
“Mat has done a lot of ground work with soliciting different speakers that are in the world of aviation,” Muske said. “He’s reached out to a lot of different people around the state.”
Members do not need to be a pilot or own an airplane to be a chapter member, all they need is an interest in aviation.
“I think it’s a great industry,” Muske said. “You can be with likeminded individuals. Pilot license or no pilot license, you’re welcome here.”

Members of the community can attend the EAA Chapter 1710 meetings to find out what the chapter is about, even if they are not members of the chapter.
“Goals right now are to grow membership, get people involved, just have a positive outlook out there,” Labs said.