By Mark Kolesar, EAA Lifetime 294238

South St. Paul EAA Chapter 1229’s Bill Steier and Julie Steier, Lakeville EAA Chapter 25’s Kris Olson and Mark Kolesar, and Lake Elmo EAA Chapter 54’s Vicky Moore were on hand Saturday, September 19, 2026, for Girls in Aviation Day, hosted by Minnesota’s Stars of the North Chapter of Women in Aviation held at Flying Cloud Airport located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The goal was to showcase EAA Young Eagles flights, AeroEducate programs and scholarships, as well as local EAA chapter activities.

This local event is part of a national aviation effort geared toward girls ages 8-17; however, they emphasize everyone is welcome. This Minnesota event is one of the national organization’s best attended, typically with more than 2,000 attendees.

People of all ages from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, as well as outstate Minnesota and western Wisconsin, were on hand despite mist and below normal temperatures. Individual aviation enthusiasts and families came to explore the exhibit hall where STEM subjects came to life with hands-on applications as well as interacting with a wide range of exhibitors and companies, including representatives from engineering firms, universities, flight schools, airlines, business aviation, and the military.

A number of families stopped by with photos taken years ago following a Young Eagles flight to tell us what an impact that flight made in their child’s life and career choice. Several current and successfully completed EAA Ray Scholarship participants and current and former Young Eagles stopped by to share their progress reports, success stories, and future aviation plans. Many others stopped by to let us know they attended EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2026 for the first time and plan to attend AirVenture 2027. We as a group would like to express our appreciation to the Ray Foundation for their support of this event.