EAA Chapter 1710 concludes successful first year

CLINTONVILLE – Mathieu Labs, president of EAA Chapter 1710, shared the 2025 highlights of the chapter with the Clintonville Common Council at its February meeting.
“I’ve never seen a community like this ever, and a chamber, promoting a chapter,” Labs said. “…To see a community go above and beyond, I applaud everyone here. Thank you very much.”
In 2025, Labs said Chapter 1710 had 50 members.
“That’s pretty good, since in this whole area there’s only 80 EAA members in like a 30-mile radius, and we got 50 of them,” Labs said.
Labs said the EAA Chapter 1710 is planning to host 18 events in 2026, with about 15 scheduled to take placed at Clintonville Municipal Airport.

The chapter will also be assembling a kit airplane that was donated to the chapter.
“That’s going to take awhile to build, but we already have a chair that’s going to do that,” Labs said.
There will also be a Young Eagles Children Fly Program in which the chapter will team up with the Clintonville School District. The program will be open for students ages 11-17, with a maximum of 10 students allowed into the program. The group of students will meet twice per month and will build a radio-controlled aircraft, Labs said.
“Then we’re going to fly it with the Shawano R/C Flying Club,” Labs said.
Students in the group will also go on field trips to the airport in Clintonville and receive Young Eagles rides in airplanes.
Labs told the council that the Clintonville EAA Chapter 1710 also has a new logo, which focuses solely on Clintonville.
“This is such a great addition for our community, it really is,” said Clintonville Mayor Steve Kettenhoven. “I took my granddaughter out to the first Young Eagles event last year. She was afraid to get on a plane, and after she come back down, she was like, ‘I want to go again.’ It was fantastic. To see all the smiles on the kids’ faces after they got off the planes, just incredible. If you can get out there for these events, please do.”
Clintonville City Administrator Caz Muske told the council that those who have an interest in aviation can become a member of the chapter. Being a pilot is not required.

Silver Level
Chapter 1710 has earned Silver Level status in the 2025 EAA Chapter Recognition Program. The honor recognizes active, engaged chapters that demonstrate a strong commitment to growing aviation and serving their communities. As part of the recognition, EAA will present Chapter 1710 with a Chapter Recognition Banner. The banner will be displayed at the Clintonville Municipal Airport FBO, where the chapter regularly meets and hosts aviation activities.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment for a chapter that has only been established for about a year,” said President, Mathieu Labs of Chapter 1710. “We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped us spread the love of aviation in our community.”
Across Wisconsin, there are 35 EAA chapters, and 14 received recognition for 2025. EAA Chapter 1710 is the newest chapter among those recognized, highlighting the strong engagement and dedication of its members and volunteers.
The EAA Chapter Recognition Program was developed in partnership with the EAA Chapter Advisory Council and measures chapters against 10 key criteria commonly found in active and successful chapters. Chapters can also earn additional points through extra-credit activities such as youth programs, build projects, scholarships, and other aviation outreach efforts.
EAA Chapter 1710 remains committed to inspiring the next generation of aviators, supporting aviation education, and bringing the local aviation community together through events, programs, and volunteer efforts.