By Robbie Culver
For EAA members Louis Graham, EAA 782591, and Molly Sommer, EAA 1640006, part of the magic of Oshkosh is having the opportunity to play the bagpipes at different events around the show. Louis said, “It all started a few years ago when I joined the Chicago Highlanders. I met Molly, and she said her husband was interested in getting started flying and asked if he could reach out. We invited him out to Oshkosh, and I told her that I’d always had the dream of playing pipes at sunset in camp on the hill, and so she suggested that we bring our pipes to camp.
“We did it one night, and before we knew it, there were a bunch of golf carts at the bottom of the hill, and we ended up getting a bunch of gigs. So this year we’re walking around playing those gigs. On Sunday, we do the Memorial Wall chapel ceremony.” Louis has been coming to Oshkosh for 37 years!
“Professionally, I fly a Falcon 2000 LXS and a Falcon 900 LX, and have a Skybolt over at IAC that we purchased to learn how to fly Skybolts. Because we’re building a Skybolt, and we’re hoping, fingers crossed, to have it done for next Oshkosh!”
Molly said, “I joined a bagpipe band, met Louis about three years ago, and my husband was interested in aviation, and then my dad was also a pilot, and my grandpa was a pilot as well. And [Louis] invited us to come to Oshkosh … and I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ My husband and I came up and just fell in love with being here.” Molly’s grandfather flew a B-24 in World War II, and her husband, Justin, EAA 1579280, is working on his instrument rating. Aviation runs in the family.
Molly added, “I think this playing up here has hit differently than some of the other places I played, just seeing the response of people, especially like people in the military. People come with stories. Sometimes it’s hard to see someone react to what you’re playing, and it’s super touching and super humbling … to be able to play something for someone and it means so much to them.”
Keep your ears tuned for the sounds of bagpipes in the evening from a hill in Camp Scholler, and on Sunday morning at the memorial ceremony for those who have flown west.