Jack Klein, EAA 518733, and Debbie Klein, EAA 1058911, celebrated their wedding by coming to AirVenture for their honeymoon, 40 years ago on this very day.
“We were here for almost the whole week and camped in Scholler with 300,000 other friends!” Debbie said and laughed.
Jack and Debbie have been coming to AirVenture for as long as they can remember, and for them, it only made sense to come back to the place they’ve loved for so long for their honeymoon.
While they didn’t meet in Oshkosh, like true aviation enthusiasts, they met at an airport.
“We met at the FBO my dad owned, and he was working on a sailplane,” Debbie explained.
Jack and Debbie have been EAA members for many years, and they’ve been coming to AirVenture consistently for 25 of those.
“Dan started volunteering seven years ago, and I started volunteering 10 years ago,” Debbie said. “I started out on the flightline, and I was there for three to four years, and I decided I kind of wanted to volunteer down here [Vintage area] where my plane was,” Debbie said. “He’s done crossing guard. We’ve both done parking aircraft, directing traffic.”
“To make an organization like this work, you got to volunteer, and then when you do volunteer you meet all these people, and they’re all like-minded with aviation,” Jack said. “This is our family reunion. Every year this is our family reunion, and we look forward to it so much,” Debbie added.
Debbie and Jack aren’t the only Kleins who love AirVenture. Their daughter, Kristina EAA 1124504, and son, Dan, EAA 1358368, have also been coming to and volunteering at AirVenture for several years! It’s true what they say; EAA is all about family and community, and we’re happy to have the Kleins be part of it.