"AirVenture, like contests, would not exist without a team of volunteers, forum presenters, and airplanes. Volunteering isn’t about the individual. Volunteering is our way to give back to an organization and the things we care about yearly. So, my desire was to create a series of awards that could be given to Airventure volunteers by other AirVenture volunteers that, in some small way, would allow the organization to give back to its volunteers," said AV Chairman Jordan Ashley.
Following are the awards presented to our IAC Airventure volunteers for 2023.
Chairman’s Award - The AirVenture Chairman's Award was created to allow the AirVenture Convention Chairman to recognize an individual for their work at AirVenture and as a way for the Chair to publicly say thank you to them for a job well done.
This year’s award goes to Dita Nazifi, who traveled all the way from Melbourne, Australia to volunteer with IAC. Dita spent every day in the IAC store. Dita went out of her way to anticipate the needs of the store, other IAC volunteers, and customers all eagerness and kindness. The atmosphere in the store was uplifted by her efforts which I think, helped us see a significant increase in store sales as a result.
Service Award - The AirVenture Service Award was created to recognize a volunteer who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in their service to the IAC and AirVenture.
This year's award goes to Rob Holland. Despite managing a busy airshow schedule, Rob displayed his airplane with us all week and was always asking how he could help. The service he provided this year was especially critical to the safety of some IAC members. With his expertise in the airshow world and formation flying, he helped Mel Williams, Greg Koontz, Jeff Granger and Michael Lent prepare for a 4-ship photo shoot for the cover of Sport Aerobatics. He attended the EAA pilot briefing and later met with the pilots to review safety procedures and signals they would need to have a safe flight in formation with the EAA photo ship.
AirVenture Forums Award - The AirVenture Forums Award, chosen by the AirVenture Forums Chairman, was created to recognize a forum presenter that most contributes to the mission of the IAC with their presentation.
This year's forums were outstanding and arguably the most well-attended forums all around in recent history. They were so good that our forum chair couldn't pick just one winner this year and we elected to pick two instead. This year's forum award goes to Tom with his RV Formation Flying Forum and Nick with his Safely Exploring Aerobatics in Your Homebuilt forum. These forums stood out not only because of the number of people they drew but by engaging members of the aerobatic community that we do not ordinarily see, Tom and Nick's forums embodied not only this year's AirVenture theme but the mission of the IAC as well.
AirVenture Showplane Award - The AirVenture Showplane Award, chosen by the AirVenture Parking Chairman, was created to recognize an outstanding airplane or pilot that flew their airplane into AirVenture.
This year's Showplane Award goes to Mel Williams for his beautiful Bellanca Decathlon N719MW restoration.Mel not only has a beautiful airplane but has taken to social media to share his love of aerobatics and the IAC with the masses as well. He is an ambassador for our sport and now has a standout airplane that will certainly continue to serve our mission as well.
AirVenture Rising Star Award
Young people are the core of building a foundation of growth for the sustained future of the organization. The AirVenture Rising Star Award was created to recognize a student volunteer who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in their service to the IAC at AirVenture.
This year's Rising Star Award goes to Samantha Miner. While she became an aerobatic competitor before she could drive, she spent the week of AirVenture promoting the IAC, aerobatics, and making new friends, to talk about aerobatics. One new friend even became a member this week as a result of her work. I am excited to see what the future holds for her.
Enjoy our photo album from 2023 EAA Airventure HERE!
