Before EAA became EAA in 1953, it was just founder Paul Poberezny and a small group of homebuilding enthusiasts that would informally get together, often at the local auto garage owned by Carl Schultz, EAA 2. (Naturally, that auto garage also served as an airplane workshop for Carl.) One of Carl’s young employees, Ron Vandenboom, would help with the aircraft build every now and then. Ron was even there the night the EAA bylaws were written in Carl’s kitchen — the night Ron became EAA 15.
Ron enjoyed a close relationship with the Pobereznys and other founding members. He helped the new organization by picking up issues of The Experimenter, EAA’s first publication, from the house of Bob Nolinksi, EAA 3, and dropping them off at the post office. Paul even gave him a good deal on Audrey’s 1941 Chevy Coupe. When Ron turned 18, Paul recruited him into the 128th Fighter Squadron in the Air National Guard. The two stayed in touch over the years, especially through their shared love of polka music — Ron would send Paul cassettes and CDs of his latest polka tracks he recorded.
EAA is well past the days of writing bylaws and publications in the personal homes of its founders, yet Ron has been there since day one watching it grow into the international community it is now. He’s even become somewhat of an EAA celebrity when he’s at AirVenture with his baseball cap proudly announcing his two-digit member number (The admissions gate volunteers go wild when he arrives.). He spends his time here soaking it all in with his family and enjoying the sounds and sights of the aircraft, especially the P-51s.
While a lot has changed since 1953, Ron’s enthusiasm for aviation and EAA has remained the same. And whether you’ve been here since day one like Ron or you only just became a member today, you are part of the EAA family. To Ron and the rest of our family, we hope you enjoyed this year’s family reunion.