Dozens of pilots in Penn Yan took an untraditional route to get to breakfast Monday morning. The Penn Yan airport held its annual July Fourth fly-in, drive-in breakfast for people on wheels or wings. Megan Zhang explains how this Finger Lakes tradition keeps the area's rich history of aviation alive.
PENN YAN, N.Y. -- You may not have taken an airplane to get your breakfast before, but for many Penn Yan residents, it's a tradition that goes back a long way.
"After World War II, fly-in breakfasts became very prominent among the flying community. The Flying Club started doing their breakfasts back then," said Penn Yan resident Paul Middlebrook.
Since then, the fly-in breakfasts have evolved to welcome people coming on all modes of transportation.
"A lot of people drive in. We have people that come up the lake in a boat and walk up the hill," said Middlebrook.
The tradition isn't only unique to Penn Yan, but extends around the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier regions.
"We have a handle of them throughout the upstate New York area. Penn Yan is a very large one. We do serve a few thousand people a year," said Rochester ersident Lee Alconero.
The Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions have had a long history of aviation, and for members of the community, events like these help them to keep in touch with that.
"Well, there is truly a love of aviation. It's a disease with a lot of people, myself included, that grew up with it," said Middlebrook.
Attendees at the event say it's a love that gets passed down over time.
"We have people in their 80s here, down to people that are 19. So it's wonderful. You have to give back generation after generation to keep the love going," said Alconero.
It's a love that gets celebrated year after year in one of the longest-running breakfast events in the country.