Mentor man gets to ‘Live the Dream’ as guest pilot of airplane

Event in Willoughby held to celebrate RJ Serger’s recent achievement

Mentor resident RJ Serger prepares to fulfill his dream as a guest pilot during a recent visit to Lake County Executive Airport in Willoughby. Serger sat in a seat directly behind pilot Bill Martin, who taxied the small plane on some of the airport’s taxiways. This experience, and a follow-up celebration on March 23 titled “Living the Dream with RJ,” was organized by the Deepwood Foundation. (Courtesy of the Deepwood Foundation)

By Bill DeBus | wdebus@news-herald.com | The News-Herald

Living the dream — as in achieving a strongly desired goal — is a great personal experience.

But sometimes that accomplishment can become even more satisfying when the individual fulfilling the dream shares his or her joy with family, friends and other supporters.

An event was held on March 23 in Willoughby during which people helped RJ Serger celebrate his dream come true as a guest airplane pilot.

The program, sponsored by the Deepwood Foundation, was titled “Living the Dream with RJ.”

Serger, 36, is a Mentor resident with developmental disabilities. He receives services through the Lake County Board of Developmental Disabilities/Deepwood.

An audience gathered in the Club Lounge at Lost Nation Sports Park to watch a video of Serger serving as a guest pilot recently at Lake County Executive Airport in Willoughby.

That video showed Serger sitting on a seat inside a small plane, directly behind pilot Bill Martin. The pilot kept his Bonanza G-36 plane on the ground, as he taxied the aircraft on the airport’s taxiways.

Before getting into Martin’s plane, Serger also tried out a flight simulator at Vector Aviation, a flight school located at Lake County Executive Airport. Serger received some expert advice on using the simulator from Paul Mannion, who is the chief flight instructor and co-owner of Vector Aviation.

Mannion also let Serger check out some of Vector’s training planes.

Serger’s opportunity to serve as a guest pilot was arranged by the Deepwood Foundation. The organization carried out similar “Living the Dream” events for two other men with developmental disabilities.

In 2020, Charlie Schultz was featured as a guest bartender. Last year, Michael Iacobucci served as a guest DJ at an area bar.

Serger was selected for a guest pilot adventure after Deepwood Foundation Program Administrator Tana Habat spoke with the director of the Lake County Board of DD/Deepwood’s Adult Services Willoughby Branch.

Habat asked the director if any workers at the branch had mentioned any jobs they have ever dreamed of doing.

“(The Willoughby branch director) said, ‘I have someone who would like to fly a plane,’ ” Habat said.

That aspiring pilot was Serger, who also works at the county Board of DD/Deepwood Willoughby Adult Services Branch.

Habat then pinpointed a couple of people whom she thought could make Serger’s dream come true.

“We are fortunate enough that one of our board members and her husband own a plane and have it in a hangar at Lost Nation Airport,” she said.

Habat was referring to Pam Martin, who serves on the boards of the Deepwood Foundation and Lake County Board of Developmental Disabilities/Deepwood.

Pam’s husband, Bill Martin, has owned his Bonanza G-36 plane for eight years.

Bill said he enjoyed playing a big part in helping RJ’s dream come true.

“To me it was a privilege to show him what being a pilot is really like and getting up close to an airplane,” Bill said, during the “Living the Dream with RJ” celebration. “Anytime we can show somebody what we do (as a pilot), we don’t want to pass that up.”

Serger arrived at the March 23 event in a limousine. Many of the people who attended the celebration stood outside near the club’s parking lot and applauded Serger when he stepped out of the vehicle.

Sergerdian said getting the chance to be Martin’s co-pilot is something he’ll always remember.

“I had a good time,” he said.

RJ’s mother, Diane Kobetitsch, said the special opportunity provided for her son recently at Lake County Executive Airport was “an awesome thing.”

“He was so happy, ready to do it and definitely lived his dream,” she said.

In addition to featuring the video of Serger’s adventure as a guest pilot, the “Living the Dream with RJ” event also featured other aviation-related activities.

Audience members were invited to use flight simulators which were set up on a pair of laptop computers. People also got the chance to make and design paper airplanes, and enter a contest to see whose creation would fly the farthest.