Photo by Bonnie Kratz Ray and Bernice Scholler with Tom Poberezny at the 2008 Hall of Fame dinner.

July 28, 2009 - Oshkosh, Wisconsin - Ray Scholler may have been one of the founders who served on EAA’s board of directors for years. But his wife, Bernice Scholler, also played an important role in the organization.

From 1954 until a stroke in 2001, Bernice was an active volunteer at EAA AirVenture, from mowing lawns, to painting barrels, to handling general registration and other administrative work. That’s why Bernice, of Random Lake, Wisconsin, will receive the Dorothy Hilbert Volunteer Award at Theater in the Woods at 7:30 p.m. today.

The Dorothy Hilbert award honors a female EAA volunteer who exhibits the same passion, dedication, and devotion for volunteerism as did the late Dorothy Hilbert.

Why did Bernice come back year after year to volunteer?

“We had fun,” Ray said. “There was a good group of people to work with. She definitely came back because of the people.”

Mix in fun and friends and you have memories, like the time Bernice and Audrey Poberezny dressed in Indian headdresses to direct traffic when the convention was in Rockford, Ray said.

While Bernice may no longer be volunteering at EAA, the Scholler name is still represented with their daughter helping to manage Theater in the Woods festivities each year.

“There’s no way I can tell you how much we’ve enjoyed being a part of EAA since 1953.”