Volunteers are what make everything EAA does possible. With more than 5,000 volunteers helping out at AirVenture this year, it would be impossible not to run into one of them. One of the first groups most attendees meet work in Admissions, headed by Chairman Pat Casetta, EAA 250435.
Admissions is responsible for getting guests into the convention via daily or weekly wristbands. However, work for Pat and her crew starts far before the first day of AirVenture.
“My job starting in March is to order all the things I need from EAA,” Pat said. “About the end of May, we’ll send out letters to our volunteers … with options for what days and times they can work. After we get them scheduled, about the first part of July, we send out training material, parking passes, and other information.”
Volunteers in Admissions need to start arriving at the end of the week before AirVenture begins.
“Usually the Friday before opening day … we hold one-hour training sessions,” Pat said. “We give them all the new information, take them through the computer programs … and then they are ready to go.”
Pat also does a lot personally to get everything ready for the Admissions volunteers.
“About a week before, my co-chairman and I get together and we clean the building,” Pat said. “In the days leading up to [AirVenture], I’m cooking and getting things ready to go. We do lunch for our volunteers.”
Despite all the work, Pat enjoys her time volunteering.
“It’s kind of a labor of love,” Pat said. “When it gets to now, we get busy, and we love it. It’s a great thing to do, and I get more out of it than I give.”
Pat has been volunteering at Admissions for more than 30 years and has turned volunteering at EAA into a family event.
“I have a niece and nephew that are chairmen,” Pat said. “The grandkids are starting to come into it.”
No matter who she’s with, Pat is always surrounded by family when she’s volunteering.
“Our [group] has become very much a family,” Pat explained. “This is the one time we get away. We renew old friendships, catch up on family things …. It’s a good group. You couldn’t ask for better people or volunteers.”
EAA is always looking for more volunteers. If interested, guests can go to the Volunteer Center, found near the Admissions Gate, across from the Fly Market.
“I would just very much encourage [attendees] to try [volunteering],” Pat said. “You get the full atmosphere, so much more than just as an attendee. You get that family atmosphere.”