ONE DAY ALL THIS WILL BE YOURS

Who hasn’t experienced their own version of the scenario – Your parent or grandparent proudly standing in front of a wall of clutter they’ve accumulated. With arms outstretched, they say, “One day all this will be yours!” 

It is not uncommon for the RAF to receive a call or visit from generous, well-meaning folks whose very wish is to “donate all this” to us. Being a donor-based organization, it’s very tempting – all this for nothing?

But before we accept, your RAF board recalls some sage advice way back in our first ever strategic planning session. It was 2004, and our friends at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) advised us to be cautious about what we take on. RMEF land manager Gary Burnett wisely advised us that if we were successful sticking to our mission, we could find ourselves with more than we could take care of. 

Was that a message we ever wanted to send our donors?

Your early RAF founders listened to Gary’s words carefully and took them to heart. We have been very thoughtful about getting involved in projects that are beyond our resources and capabilities. We strive to prevent those that follow from opening up the “RAF storage shed” and finding places that really don’t belong, with obligations that really can’t be met. 

Your current RAF leadership continues to be selective so that we only accumulate those things that are truly worthy and of benefit to the generations that will follow. Now, more than ever, sticking to the mission of preserving, improving, and creating airstrips for recreational access is as important as it was back in 2003 when this all started. 

Recently, I was struck by all of this when I witnessed the work being done at the newest RAF destination, the beautiful Gillette Lakewood airfield in Wisconsin. At our May RAF work party there, a number of young people joined some “senior” RAF supporters and volunteers. Everyone worked shoulder to shoulder with our friends and donors, Bob and Judy Gillette, to do some maintenance on this special place that current and future generations of recreational aviation enthusiasts will value and protect.

So, with the RAF’s continued diligence and mindfulness, we can anticipate the next generation’s appreciation and genuine enthusiasm when they realize, “Someday all this will be yours.”

– John McKenna, RAF Chairman

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RAF ADDS MICHIGAN LIAISON SCOTT ANTTILA

By Taylin Trafton • December 11, 2025
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.