From President Doug Fee

Aside from another summer season of flying activities coming to a close, for the AAA, a year of change and transition is winding up.  Of course, the big change for us has been the establishment and initial funding of our endowment.  That process has taken a fair amount of work and decision-making, as well as leaps of faith on the part of your Board of Directors.  Our initial funding efforts have been fruitful, and we are almost two-thirds of the way to the point where the endowment will be able to produce a scholarship every year . . . . forever.  Of course, we'd like to continue to build the endowment so that we can increase the opportunities that we will have to assist deserving young folks in our community in achieving their aviation career goals in the future.  And, as we pursue that funding goal, keep in mind that:

            "One person's trash is another one's treasure"

One of our end-of-the-year activities will be a silent auction to be held at our monthly meeting on December 4th.  We are looking for donations of items to be raffled off to the highest bidder, with all proceeds going into our endowment.  Although the items to be auctioned will probably center around aviation related things, don't limit yourself to that.  Want to clear Uncle Harry's Louisville Slugger baseball bat out of the hall closet?  Someone at our meeting just might want it.  Have a 1951 issue of National Geographic Magazine?  Bring it in, and let someone bid on it.  Do you build wooden birdhouses in your free time?  Or, maybe you have a personally autographed photo of Scholarship Chairman Don Wolfe.  Surely someone will bid on that!  How about that unused David Clark headset that's been collecting dust in the back of your closet for the last five years?  Some new pilot will need it.  A gift certificate from our own Wings Grill?  Or maybe the Owner's Manual to a 1958 Bellanca Cruisemaster?  We will also be auctioning off all of the beautiful selection of aircraft models that were on display at our last month's meeting. 

This is going to be fun and, again, all of the proceeds from the auction will go directly into our endowment. 

If you are going to bring something for us to auction, I'd suggest that you plan to arrive a bit on the early side--maybe around 5:30 or so.  That will give us time to get our displays organized and bid sheets set out and marked.  And finally, everyone, bring cash or your checkbook so that you can take home some unexpected treasures. 

As my year's tenure as your president comes to an end, I want to offer some thank yous.  First of all to all of the directors and committee chairs.  Without their hard work and dedication, the Auburn Aviation Association would not be the success that it is.  To every single one of the members of our organization, thanks for supporting us and giving us the opportunity to do what we do.  And, finally,  thanks to everyone for humoring me and putting up with my shenanigans for the last year.   

Blue skies,

Doug