Scholarship Information

The Friends of the Crivitz Airport are proud to help local students continue their education with an annual academic scholarship program.  Please write or e-mail us for more information.

Kimberly Patz (Coleman H.S.) was awarded our 2004 scholarship
Linnea Kubiak (Crivitz H.S.)was awarded our 2005 scholarship
Marian Shaffer (Crivitz H.S.) was awarded our 2006 scholarship
Sonnet From (Crivitz H.S.) was awarded one of our 2007 scholarships, please see the winning essay below...
Wayne Bushmaker (Coleman H.S.) was awarded one of our 2007 scholarships, please see the winning essay below...

Why an Airport is Important to our Community
by Sonnet From, Crivitz High School

    The Crivitz Airport serves a vital part to the economy.  The biggest user of aviation is business and this allows business access to this area.  An airport is an economic agent that allows flight in and out.  Crivitz possesses a public airport in Marinette County , and is the air transportation link to this area.

    The airport has grown over the years and now is a large generator of money due to the tourism and business contracts it promotes.  Tourists do not enjoy the high gas prices, and now prefer flight over a vehicle because it saves time.  They travel to Marinette County and buy summer homes, employ contractors, and shop at retail and grocery stores.  Weekends become crowded with the amount of tourists who decide to fly here.

    Budgets are now tight at the federal and state level but funding still remains for airports.  It is proven that airports attract companies large and small.  Investing in an airport is viewed as a way to improve the economy over a widespread area.  Pilots are attracted to nice runways and an area full of natural beauty, recreational opportunities and good restaurants.  There is also the prospect of fishing, hunting or skiing.  These pilots spend money and further generate local business opportunities.

    Restaurants serve many more customers.  Camping grounds and rafting businesses receive an added amount of business.  Hotels have more rooms filled up on weekends.  Taxi services can be made available for tourists interested in visiting more than just an airport or surrounding stores.

    An airport is a piece of public property and it brings a measure of public benefit, not private.  Many believe that it is a playground for the rich, but economic development reports prove otherwise.  It increases the land value and can increase the budget of a county.  It allows communities to become more self-sustaining and share more with other communities.  An airport can bring Flights for Life in to provide medical aid.

    Even if politics change there is always a consistent Airport Plan which has to be presented to the Bureau of Aeronautics and the taxpayers.  As the airport slowly develops – so does the community.  An airport’s main generator of wealth is the selling of fuel.  This revenue returns to the airport for operation and maintenance.  The economy slowly improves as pilots and individuals are attracted to courteous local service, restaurants, transportation services and improved airport features.

    Forest fires are also prevented due to the use of Forest Service Helicopters and engine tankers.  These helicopters fly over the Crivitz woodlands with water.  Fires are spotted and reacted upon quicker, when they otherwise could remain unseen.

    Crivitz is based on tourism, not industry; and this has been true for many years.  Winters which lack snowfall are greatly hurting local businesses.  Tourists do not know of the Thompson State Park or the Peshtigo River State Forest .  If they became aware the Crivitz Airport could serve as a means of transporting them there.

Why an Airport is Important to our Community
by Wayne Bushmaker, Coleman High School

    Airplanes are the second largest part of transportation in the United States .  This fact is why airports are an important part of the community and need to be promoted so that more people can experience the enjoyment of flying.

    I believe that an airport is important to our community for several reasons.  My most important reason would be that it makes it convenient for people that are interested in flight to find more about becoming a pilot if there is an airport nearby.  There is power in numbers, so the pilots in the area can work together to make the airport better.  The flight that I first remember was at the Menominee airport with the Young Eagles.  I was about ten years old and I flew in a Cessna 172.  I thought that it was incredible to see the world from a new perspective.  From that day, I knew that whatever I did, it would involve airplanes.  Now I am accepted into Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and am presently taking flight lessons at Green Bay .  I hope to become a pilot for the airlines or become a corporate pilot.

    Another reason is that it brings in a significant amount of money to the area’s economy.  Tourists are a big part of Crivitz’s economy.  The pilots and their families fly up to spend the weekend at their local cabin and love being “up north.”  Then they go into town and buy food and goods that they didn’t pack on the plane.  This helps the local stores that aren’t even related to the airport.  All pilots know that it is faster to fly than drive.  The more people that fly mean that there is less traffic that is present on Friday night.  Many of the pilots that I have talked to at Green Bay have gone to the Crivitz Airport .  They think that it is a wonderful little airport, especially after the improvements

    The airport also makes jobs in the community such as pilots, air traffic controllers, secretaries and maintenance people.  It also helps the local industries that can fly directly from Crivitz instead of having to drive to Green Bay or Milwaukee and then buy a ticket from there.

    The airport provides protection and services.  It protects much of Marinette County from the possibility of a wild fire because there is an airplane capable of extinguishing a fire.  Also it  provides a safe landing spot for helicopters or airplanes that can transport an injured person to a hospital much faster than an ambulance would.  It would serve as a convenient location to base a search and rescue or manhunt from.

    The Crivitz Airport is really an asset to Marinette County that hopefully will expand in the coming years.  It will continue to help the Crivitz area grow, prosper, and become a great little town.

[ Home ]

Last modified: April 27, 2008