1940’s

• In 1945 residents of the town, through its Town Board, decide to create a town airport, in part due to the recently passed federal Airport and Airways Act
• Runway 22/4 was created
• A 60x40 foot terminal building was constructed from concrete block and wood which included a sleeping area, office, and storage area
• Robert Spargue became the first airport manager. He owned a Cessna 170 which he kept in the hangar part of the terminal building
• Two years later, Harold Barkstrom took over as manager. He owned a BT-13 Air Force trainer

1950’s

• Town board hired locals to mow grass and fuel up incoming planes. Pay was $25/week from June through August, as the airport was closed during winter.
• Cal LaPorte, Adolph Mussatti, and B.C. Roemer purchase a J-3 Cub for $450 (which included skis)
• The three men purchased a kit hangar and assembled it to house their J-3 Cub
• They later traded their Cub for a Luscombe 8A. The upgrade cost the trio $250 and allowed them to cruise cross country at 105 mph as opposed to 75 mph in the Cub

1960’s

• Airport traffic steadily increased. Privately owned DC-3’s landed landed occasionally without issue
• A privately-owned B-25 bomber landed a few times on 4 for the extra field length to stop but unfortunately was heavy on the brakes which tore up the nice grass strip

1970’s forward

• The airport was managed by the Town Board until around 1976 when they chose to appoint B.C. Roemer as the airport manager. Roemer chose two others to assist and the volunteer airport committee was established. There was no airport budget so 100% of expenses were shouldered by the committee
• After many calls and meetings with the State Aeronautics Board and engineers, the decision was made to forego paving the existing 4/22 runway and create a new runway which would become the present 14/32