IT’S SORT OF LIKE THE HOLIDAY SEASON

A large group of people wearing orange shirts are posing for a picture.

Is it your turn – or maybe your family tradition – to host for the holidays? I’m betting you do all you can to make the special time together both memorable and fun. You hope to make each member of the family and guest feel special, as well as happy they made the journey to join you. With the holiday season all around us, that too, is something we hope to accomplish with building and caring for the RAF. 


We recognize the unique gift we have been given that you share our passion to protect the backcountry. It is not a gift that is readily sourced, nor can you package it, but together when we accomplish an objective within our mission, we all value opening that gift.



We love the ability to gather with you and see faces we haven’t seen since last time. We like seeing new folks around the holiday table, too, so don’t be shy about inviting a friend, even that strange uncle, cousin, or neighbor. We are a pretty eclectic bunch so they should fit right in. 


And, if you’re wondering what the perfect gift might be for the RAF? It’s not hard. We would really want that you find fulfillment and joy as part of the RAF family. A family that really does care deeply about protecting the backcountry, and most importantly, about taking care of one another.

So, at this time of year we wish you well, and know we are looking forward to seeing you in 2025.


Happy Holidays,
John McKenna, RAF Chairman

Submitted on December 11, 2024

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A Christmas gift of flight lessons from his parents started Scott Anttila’s aviation journey in 1985. “I learned at Johnson Field, a small grass strip tucked into the woods in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and that early exposure to simple backcountry flying stuck with me,” Scott says. Growing up in the U.P., he spent a lot of time outdoors and found that flying was another way to get to the places he liked to explore—especially the ones most people never saw. As he earned more ratings and eventually moved to the Detroit area for work, Scott realized he needed a way to stay connected to northern Michigan. He bought an airplane and used it to get back to the smaller airstrips and lake country he enjoyed. Along the way, he also flew gliders out of Frankfort, soaring along the Sleeping Bear Dunes and towing sailplanes over the Great Lakes. “Those flights gave me a different appreciation for the landscape and made me even more interested in the small, out-of-the-way airports scattered around the state,” he says. Visiting those kinds of places, Scott first came across the Recreational Aviation Foundation. He started using RAF-supported airstrips both inside and outside Michigan. “I noticed how well-kept they were and how much access they opened up,” he says, adding, ”Over the years, I’ve watched a number of grass strips close, which made the RAF’s mission feel especially important to me. Maintaining these airstrips keeps aviation connected to the outdoors and makes it possible for more people to reach the quiet, remote areas that inspired me to fly in the first place.” Scott joins the other two RAF Michigan Liaisons, General Grant and Tanmoy Ganguly. He can be reached at santtila@theraf.org . Submitted December 11, 2025.