By Zack Willig, President
As the Indiana Seaplane Pilots Association (ISPA) marks yet another year without longtime organizers, Randy Strebig and Allison Wheaton, the goal to continue the annual “splash-in” in their honor could not be truer, as it increases in popularity.
This year may have been the first year that the Pokagon State Park campground was full during the weekend, which celebrated its 23rd year, Saturday, September 20, and Sunday, September 21, 2025.
As luck would have it, for the second year in a row, organizers went weeks without rain and then mother nature decided it was time to rain on the day of the main event. Thankfully though, Friday and Saturday’s weather was fantastic, and 18 aircraft flew in.
The association started off the weekend by hosting the poker run and spot landing contest on Saturday. A big thank you to Matt Perry and Rick Rumple for coordinating the event. This was the fourth year doing the poker run, and it has become a favorite among many pilots as it is a great way to see the many lakes in the area. Kevin Kratzman had the winning hand and generously donated his winnings back to the organization. The spot landing contest on Lake Pleasant was won by Don Hassigan in his J-3 Cub and Jodi VanWagnen came in second, also in a J-3 Cub.
Organizers were happy to keep the barbecue and bonfire tradition going at the runway on Saturday evening.
Air Indiana Skydiving dropped two loads of jumpers onto the runway out of their Cessna 182. Rick Rumple carried on the tradition using both Randy’s parachute and skydive gear.
Sunday morning brought steady rain until around 11:00 a.m., making for a slow start to the morning. The crowd started to grow and they had a few more arrivals before noon.
There were numerous notable/unique aircraft this year including Rick Kaskel in his 1946 Sea Bee RC3 from Evansville, Indiana; Troy Macvey from Mac’s Seaplane Service in his Anderson Kingfisher from Rising Sun, Indiana; Michael Pratt in his Grumman Widgeon from Louisville, Kentucky; and Brian Van Wagnen from Jackson, Mich., also in a Grumman Widgeon that just came out of a five-year restoration. Jakob McKenney, who is a walking Wikipedia of all things airplanes, participated again this year as the announcer.
This year four pilots offered to give rides to more than 20 raffle ticket winners. A huge shout out to the pilots giving rides: Shawn Avra, Mark Fisher, Rick Kaskel, and Jodi VanWagnen.
This year there was a meeting of the newly formed Indiana Seaplane Advocacy Group made up of Steve Whitney, Austin Budreau, Rick Rumple, Kevin Kratzman, Troy Macvey and yours truly. The group has an optimistic outlook for their goals as they have been in contact with Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, who has a strong interest in General Aviation. Mr. Rokita was also in attendance for Sunday’s event.
A big shoutout to Ted Bohman and the Pokagon State Park team for their help in preparing for the splash-in. Thanks to Emily Burris with the Potawatomi Inn for providing the meal vouchers for the pilots. We appreciate the Pokagon State Park DNR team for their continued support towards this event as well, and to the Steuben County Tourism Bureau and the Lake James Association for their generous donations. A huge thank you to all the volunteers who helped throughout the weekend. This event could not take place without them.
Mark your calendar for September 26-27, 2026, for the 24th Annual Splash In.
