Over 1,500 visitors and locals alike showed up to enjoy another delicious pancake and sausage breakfast at the annual Northport Lions Club Fly-In, Drive-In held Saturday morning at Woolsey Memorial Airport. Along with the fresh breakfast cooked up and prepared with the help of 110 volunteers, people also enjoyed the numerous planes and antique cars on display, as well as music performed by the Northport Community Band.
Chuck Whetsel, current Lions Club president, said while he’s been a member of the Northport Lions Club for the last decade, he’s always blown away by the number of people that come out to support the event.
“My favorite part is just seeing all the people have a good time,” Whetsel said. “We had more planes camped out at the airport than last year… It’s a big challenge when you start trying to buy product, like we have 40 gallons of syrup, 40 cans of cherries, and many, many bags of pancake mix. We buy from the big box stores and they allow us to return what we don’t use as long as it’s a dried good. We can’t return the sausage and if we have any sausage leftover, we give it to LCN (Leelanau Christian Neighbors) and they distribute it. Last year we had to run to Tom’s for more breakfast sausage, so we bought more this year.”
Lions Club volunteer and Northport Village Council Trustee Jane Gale was helping people check in to receive breakfast at the event, and said the village is proud of the Fly-In, Drive-In and the tradition that continues each year with it.
“It’s been such a tradition and it brings people from all around and they keep coming back, so that’s good for Northport,” Gale said. “I really like seeing the reaction of some of the kids when the planes are coming in and watching families have fun together. The breakfast is also good.”
A familiar face, Lynn Contos, who is the great niece of Clinton Woolsey of which the airport is named after, returned once again as one of the vendors on site. Contos and structural engineer Mark Krueger met with people at their table to talk about the history and deteriorating state of the aging airport terminal and the need to raise funds to help preserve it for years to come. Contos said their fundraising goal is $500K, however, they only have about $120K so far and are always looking for more support as the building continues to age. People can follow further airport rehabilitation efforts via the Facebook page “Save Woolsey Airport Terminal.”
“We have a ways to go and we’re looking for donations so we can get this beautiful building saved… I’ve been here every year since I was born, so it’s home,” Contos said. “We need $200K to start us off with getting the roof repaired to prevent further damage… As soon as we get the money we’re ready to go.”
