This piece originally ran in the June 2026 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
Dale Hanneman, EAA 363327, is one of many local, year-round volunteers in EAA’s Print Mail Center who makes sure members like you receive your membership mailings, chapters receive workshop supplies, books are spiral bound, and so much more.
Dale has always loved aviation, starting with a helicopter flight experience in Wisconsin Dells when he was a kid. He became an EAA member in 1990 and has been attending our annual convention with his wife, Cheryl, and son, Scott, since before it was even called AirVenture.
When his son was growing up, the two enjoyed spending time at the airport in Appleton, Wisconsin. “The FedEx plane would always load right next to the terminal, so we could walk right up to the fence,” Dale said. “Then they would start the engines and taxi to the runway, and then we would watch it take off. There were many, many times we did that.”
In 2021, Dale retired from a 39-year career with Honeywell doing building automation, and he knew he wanted to volunteer somewhere. “My first thought was to volunteer at EAA,” he said. Five years later, Dale has become a pillar of the PMC’s volunteer efforts. He’s also helped to tag merchandise in the Wearhouse, build furniture in the Air Academy Lodge, collect letters to Santa during Christmas in the Air, and more.
Bringing skills from his career in building automation, Dale happily handles a necessary task most people would rather not do: write procedures. The PMC volunteer team expands to more than 50 members during peak months, so it’s important for each task to be done with consistency without having to explain it to each person. Dale’s meticulously written procedures help make that possible.
He’s also gotten creative to ensure consistency. “One of the projects I had to work on is placing sticky-back pin fasteners on the back of name badges. I wanted the pin fastener to be placed on the back of every name badge in exactly the same spot. Eyeballing wasn’t good enough, so I made a jig out of chipboard and Scotch tape,” he said. “The name badge easily slides into the jig, and we know exactly where to position the fastener. ‘Sweating the details’ is important to me.”
Though, to Dale, more important than the details are the people. “EAA is a great place to volunteer. There is so much camaraderie. The Print Mail Center staff and volunteers are like family,” he said. “It is a sense of belonging by working alongside others to support EAA. I really enjoy the many friends I have made here.”
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.