Pancake breakfast helps to launch young pilots

Camren Mumme of Sipayik got close to his first airplane when he was about 10, and he was immediately smitten. He clearly remembers the exact moment, which occurred at the Eastport Airport Association's Fourth of July pancake breakfast.

"I've always been interested in anything that moves," he says. "The complexity [of the plane] captivated me. It's really amazing."

Today the 17‑year‑old, the son of Jake and Terri Mumme, is on the cusp of making his dream of a career in aviation come true with the help of the same organization that sponsored the breakfast. As the result of his continuing interest, the Eastport Airport Association awarded Mumme a scholarship last year from breakfast proceeds to pay for his ground school at the airport. Mumme hopes to fly solo this summer and eventually attend college for aeronautical engineering.

"They have been amazing," the Washington Academy student says of his experience with the members of the airport association. "Engineering is my passion, but I think the aviation side of my life is really becoming apparent as an opportunity."

The same pancake breakfast at which Mumme found his future is the vehicle that allows the association to award other scholarships to Washington County youngsters interested in aviation. With the money raised, the association helps young people with things such as flight school and attendance at camps to acquaint them with aviation as a career.

Steve Trieber, one of nine directors of the Eastport Airport Association, says the association has been helping interested young people financially for five years. "It's a great career, really challenging," he says. "When I was a kid, it was popular career, but today in the airline industry we don't have enough pilots. The future of aviation depends on programs like this."

Indeed, reports show that there is a steadily increasing shortage of airline pilots, air traffic controllers, as well as airline mechanics and technicians. The staffing problems come at the same time that airline travel is increasing.

To fund association scholarships, the Eastport Airport Association has held an annual pancake breakfast for the past 40 years. This year, the breakfast will be held on Saturday, July 4, from 7 to 11 a.m. at the airport.

Last year Trieber says that 750 people were served at the breakfast. He hopes that number will be even larger this year. And, he hopes more young people - like Mumme - will discover their love of flight and approach the association for help.

"If this breakfast goes well, we'll get some more kids," he says. "It's a big event. Any way we can help these kids, we will."

In addition to Mumme, the association awarded a scholarship last year to Pembroke's Sonja Herbrandson, a homeschooled 18‑year‑old who moved to Washington County a mere three years ago from Minnesota. Although she'd been interested in aviation, she never thought such a career would be possible for her.

"The airport people have been so supportive and encouraging," says Herbrandson, the daughter of Joel and Celeste Herbrandson. "[The association] purchased my ground school, which I'm almost done with. It's a lot of work, but it's really worth it."

Herbrandson hopes to finish ground school this summer but won't officially take to the air for her flight training until fall, when she begins as a freshman at Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona.

"In January I decided on Embry‑Riddle, applied, and within a week they said I was accepted," she says excitedly. "I think I'm going to be flying like four times a week. So it's super cool." After graduation, she'd like to use her pilot skills to undertake missionary work, giving her the ability to reach far‑flung communities.

In contrast to Herbrandson, Mumme won't be applying to colleges until this fall. Instead, the Washington Academy student will be spending his senior year at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. His goal is to eventually attend the University of Maine or possibly even an Ivy League school for his college degree.

Both Herbrandson and Mumme are grateful to the Eastport Airport Association for speeding them on their journeys toward aeronautical careers. The association has even agreed to purchase Herbrandson's textbooks for her first year at Embry‑Riddle.

"I know I wouldn't be where I am now if it were for the airport association," Herbrandson says. Both she and Mumme will be at the breakfast to meet everyone who attends. "I'm just really happy to be there and help them."