Published: September 25, 2009 07:50 pm      

LSA Expo volunteer training begins Monday

TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — Training for volunteers who will be helping with the Midwest Light Sport Aircraft Expo will be held beginning Monday at the airport.

"This is a national event geared toward promoting aviation as well as economic development in Southern Illinois," Midwest Expo President Chris Collins stated. Collins is also the Mt. Vernon Airport manager. "It is by far the biggest event the airport has ever undertaken."

The meetings will be geared toward training volunteers for their duties at the expo, stress safety, boost community pride and answer questions. The fist meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday and at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in the Kozaria Terminal Lobby.

Volunteers are still needed for the event to act as "ambassadors for their community," information from the LSA Expo states. Volunteers will work blocks of four hour shifts.

"We have designed the volunteer shifts so that no one gets overworked," Midwest LSA Expo Treasurer Bonnie Jerdon stated. "They can have a good time working for their community."

Collins stressed the event is not a fly-in, which will be held later in the month, but is a national event for those who are involved in light sport aviation or who are wanting to become pilots or owners of LSA.

"This is a lot different from the fly-in," Collins explained. "We don't want people coming out to see war birds and take Young Eagle rides. And, it's not a free event. When we have events like this, it's easy for people to get confused, and we don't want that to happen."

Admission to the LSA is $8 per person for members of the Experimental Aircraft Association, and $10 for the general public. Parking is $5.

"Obviously, this is a national event, and there is overhead and costs incurred to put on something like this," Collins explained. "That's why we charge to put on this. But, other events, like the fly-in, are free to the public and geared toward our local residents."

Collins said volunteers for the event will be ambassadors who will be responsible for making those who attend the event welcome and help them get where they need to be — in many cases offering directions and recommendations on eating and other activities.

For those who volunteer, each will receive a polo shirt for their service and a volunteer appreciation cookout is planned the Sunday evening following the event, Collins said.

The Midwest LSA Expo will be held Oct. 1, Oct. 2 and Oct. 3. The show is expected to be the largest LSA Expo in the U.S. Only one other expo that allows people to try out the aircraft is held in Sebring, Fla., and manufacturers and support industries have been looking for a place in the Midwest for a site to hold an event that would be closer to the LSA manufacturers and the associated product suppliers. The Midwest LSA Expo was created to address the need.

The Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce is working to coordinate volunteers during the LSA Expo, and anyone who would like to volunteer, or would like to volunteer but can’t make either meeting should contact JCCC Executive Director Brandon Bullard at 242-5725.