This piece originally ran in the November 2023 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.

Jonathon McKenzie, EAA Lifetime 1110671, became EAA’s Print Mail Center volunteer chairman in 2022, but he joined EAA and started volunteering more than 10 years ago after he caught a glimpse of the night air show just outside the convention grounds. Thinking back to the moment that started it all, Jon said, “I’m in bumper-to-bumper traffic … and my wife is like, ‘Oh, look at the fireworks coming out of the planes! Pull over!’”

Jon didn’t pull over right then and there, but the next day he talked to his friend, a homebuilt judge at AirVenture, who convinced him to volunteer. “I really got hooked on it. When I was still working full time, my first two weeks of vacation were to do AirVenture … and then once I retired, I spent the whole month of July here,” Jon said.

Now retired and living locally, Jon volunteers year-round in the Print Mail Center. Most of the year he assists with sending out your membership cards, putting together chapter service awards, preparing materials for programs like Young Eagles, and so much more. When summer rolls around, Jon’s volunteering amps up in preparation for AirVenture. During the big week, he and fellow PMC volunteers deliver the AirVenture Today newspaper to 114 locations around the convention grounds and local hotels. This group sets out on their daily paper route before the sun even rises, making sure campers have reading material to go with their morning coffee or pancake breakfast.

Jon’s reason for volunteering all these years? The people, of course! “My first experience in the volunteer kitchen, I didn’t know anybody. People would just sit with you, and by the second year, you’d know quite a few of them. The third year, it’s old friends coming together … it’s just a fun time.”

Old friends or strangers, Jon is always looking for ways to make AirVenture a great experience for everyone. “On some of our paper deliveries, if we see somebody that’s with crutches, we can stop our deliveries … you take them wherever they need to go …. I’ve met a lot of neat people and helped people out.” Another time, he helped with more than just a golf cart ride. “We had some people from Quebec that didn’t speak English,” he said, “and their engine blew up on their van, which they were staying in. Helping them out, finding translators, and getting them maintenance … that was fun.”

Jon served in the U.S. Navy Reserve out of Moffett Field in California, getting to fly in P-3 Orions and other aircraft, but his first flight experience was in a Cessna for just $10 during an event at the Appleton International Airport when he was a kid. Just like many of us, the excitement of flight never left Jon. “Every time I’m in an airplane, I’m gawking out the window,” he said. “Every time!”

Volunteers make EAA AirVenture Oshkosh — and just about everything else EAA does — possible. This space in EAA Sport Aviation is dedicated to thanking and shining the spotlight on volunteers from the community. Sadly, it cannot capture all of the thousands of volunteers who give so much to the community every year. So, next time you see a volunteer at AirVenture or elsewhere, however they are pitching in to make EAA better, be sure to thank them for it. It’s the least we can do. Do you know a volunteer you’d like to nominate for Volunteer Spotlight? Visit EAA.org/Submissions.