BUCYRUS, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)—An author whose new book has ties to Bucyrus and its aviation history is coming back to town for a series of events this month.
Cynthia Broze, author of “The Aerial Nurse Corps of America,” will be the keynote speaker at the Bucyrus Historical Society’s annual meeting Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. at Port Bucyrus Crawford County Airport. The event is open to the public.
Broze will also do a book signing Sept. 21 at the fourth annual Fly-In Pancake Breakfast at the airport. It will coincide with a presentation on Lauretta Schimmoler, the aviation pioneer who is the subject of her book.
“Lauretta Schimmoler is probably the best-kept secret in town, an integral part of aviation,” said Randy Fischer, a trustee of the Historical Society. “Really nothing in her life was very easy getting things started.”
In her book, Broze devotes chapters to Schimmoler’s early years as a pilot and focuses on her tireless efforts back in the 1930s to help create, despite resistance, the Aerial Nurse Corps, the first air ambulance in the United States.
Broze did much of her research for the book at the Historical Society’s Museum, which houses Schimmoler’s artifacts, Fischer said. On Sept. 18, he said, she is scheduled to give a private tour of her exhibit there.
Schimmoler not only founded Port Bucyrus but also managed it – the first woman in the country to do so. Plans are still in the works to recognize her achievements with a monument and small museum there, Fischer said.
Money for the project is being raised at the Fly-In, which runs from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It will kick off with the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast from 8 a.m. to noon in the Hord Hanger. Meal tickets are $10 each but children 10 and under eat free.
Vintage aircraft will also be on hand for visitors, including a TBM Avenger World War II bomber and a PBY Catalina flying boat from the Liberty Aviation Museum, and a Cessna O-2 Skymaster out of Urbana, Ohio.
A flea market, classic car show, and farmer’s market will be making their debut this year, Fischer said. A kiddy tractor pull is set for 2 p.m. with registration at 1 p.m. It is sponsored by the Crawford Antique Farm Machinery Association.
FAA Team Presentations will be held throughout the day, along with drone demonstrations and radio-controlled aircraft. Food trucks will serve bratwurst, hotdogs, kettle corn, beverages, and other fare from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The hope, Fischer said, is to finally build a museum honoring Schimmoler and celebrating her lifelong legacy. “She embraced Bucyrus. She really claims Bucyrus as her hometown.”