This content was created by Sander Scott. This content was uploaded by Sander Scott. This is a YouTube video titled "Woolsey Memorial Airport History & Northport Fly-In" (created 2024-10-31). The excerpt is an on-site, presentation-style conversation featuring Tom Weatherby (airport manager) and Dan Toole (Parks & Recreation Committee representative) about Woolsey Memorial Airport—its 1920s origins (land donated by the Woolsey family), Depression-era improvements, and the historic creamery building that now needs restoration. They describe the annual Woolsey Airport Fly-In and pancake breakfast that raise funds (Lions Club and a Save Woolsey Airport Terminal Fund via the Lelandau Community Township Foundation QR code), note highlights like a C-130 and Coast Guard helicopter visits, and state fundraising progress ($120,000 raised toward a $500,000 goal). Sander Scott is mentioned at the end but does not speak in the excerpt.
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Yeah, Woolsey Memorial is a public use, publicly owned airport. It's owned by the Leelanau Township.
The Woolsey Airport Fly-In is an annual event where we get planes in from all, all over the United States.
Yeah, I'm Tom Weatherby, and I'm the airport manager for Woolsey Memorial Airport. State of Michigan requires every airport to have a licensed airport manager, so even an airport like Woolsey has one. Woolsey Memorial is a public use, publicly owned airport. It's owned by the Leelanau Township, and it's used for general aviation. So we have people that fly recreationally out of here, but there's also people that fly for transportation. We have charter flights that come in and out of it. But it was started in the 1920s when Captain Woolsey was killed in a plane crash in Buenos Aires, and his family family decided to donate the first 40 acres of their farmland to start the airport. Of course, it's been added on to a lot since then. And then during the Depression, as a public works project is when they actually improved the runways and made it the airport that it is now. And this building behind me here is the part of the old Woolsey Dairy Farm. It was the creamery building, and that's kind of the iconic thing that we have here that's in need of restoration. So we're working on that and trying to raise funds for it. Yeah, the airport now is a very popular destination for people to fly in camp, and it's used by more than just pilots on here because of its location along the road. We have a lot of people come out here for picnics and weddings and just generally to stand on top of the building and watch the traffic come in and out. So it's kind of a popular spot.
My name is Dan Toole, and I am the representative of the Parks and Recreation Committee for Lelandon Township, who's the focal point for Woolsey Airport. So I'm here to enjoy a pancake breakfast, but also to help raise funds for the reparations and the repairs of Woolsey Airport. So the Woolsey Airport Fly-In is an annual event where we get planes in from all over the United States. We've even had a C-130 land here to show that it's possible. The Coast Guard comes sometimes with a helicopter. So every single year, there's a pancake breakfast that serves to raise money for Lions Club, and this year also for repairs to the Woolsey Airport. If people want to help, the very best thing is to provide cash. We need cash to move forward. There's a QR code on our flyer, which I'm sure you'll see a picture of, and that takes you to the Lelandau Community Township Foundation, and through that you can give money to the Save Woolsey Airport Terminal Fund. It's a great way to restore an iconic building that's been here since the 1930s and is in desperate need of repair so that generations after us can enjoy it. I would just say, please give. We need to move with this airport. We've been raising money for about 6 months. We've raised $120,000, but we need to get to $500,000 to be able to repair the building and to actually make it look like it did in the 1930s when it was finished.
