STEVENSVILLE — “It was probably the best moment of my life.”
Those are the words Erik Potter, a recent graduate of Stevensville High School, used to describe what it was like to receive a $10,000 scholarship for pilot school.
Potter never envisioned himself taking up a career in aviation however, “I guess I just kind of stumbled across it.”
The scholarship comes from the Stevensville Airport Foundation (SAF), an organization of local pilots and aviation enthusiasts out of the Stevensville Airport, largely in part in memory of their lost friend, Paul O’Bagy.
Erik Potter won a ride with Paul O’Bagy before he passed and with that ride, it struck something within him, “Ever since then I knew that I wanted to become a pilot at some point.”
Paul O’Bagy was an active member of the Stevensville Airport, flying around the surrounding area—- often into the backcountry to hunt — and was beloved by all who knew him, including Erik Potter.
The SAF is currently run by Mike Schwartz, who was a close friend of Paul O’Bagy. In memory of his departed friend, Schwartz organized the SAF to help put together a scholarship to help “pass the torch” to the next generation of young aviators.
Schwartz mentioned in relation to the scholarship that “this is perhaps one of the highlights of our organization.”
The money came together from local donations, largely from members of the SAF and supporters of the airport.
$10,000 is no small sum. It will help Potter pay for roughly 1/8th of the total cost of pilot school. He hopes to attend a college with an aviation program this coming fall but hasn’t quite worked out all the details yet.
After school, he hopes to become a cargo pilot, maybe flying for Amazon’s new air freight operation. Or, he hopes to maybe become a firefighting pilot, “that would be pretty awesome.”
Potter wanted to thank the SAF and the Paul O’Bagy Foundation for the scholarship and the opportunities they have given him so far.
Carol O’Bagy, widow of Paul O’Bagy, also wanted to note that she is thankful for all that the SAF has done in memory of her husband.
