Local businessman, pilot and photographer Mike Mitchell will be the guest speaker at a Rome Academy of Sciences event that will be held at the Rome Historical Society at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 19.
Mitchell’s lecture, Seeing the 49th in a Cessna 172, will include the many stories and accompanying photographs of his travels throughout Alaska—by airplane, snowmobile and boat—in the past 20 years.
Mitchell grew up in Old Forge and is a 1982 graduate of Town of Webb School. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1987 as a 2nd Lieutenant with a degree in engineering.
He served in the U.S. Army in Germany, Panama and in the states.
In the 1990’s, he owned and operated an environmentally sensitive photo lab in Old Forge, prior to moving to California where he worked as a Chemical Engineer for eight years.
Mitchell began flying in 1987 in El Paso, TX, and has accumulated over 4,200 hours of flying time.
He currently lives in Old Forge where he recently reopened the Old Forge Airport after 20 years of dormancy. He operates American Infrared, a company that sells thermal imaging cameras, and Adirondack Homes, a land development and home construction business.
The Rome Historical Society is located at 200 Church Street and the public is welcome to attend Mitchell’s program.
An informal dinner will be held at the Savoy Restaurant at 5:30 p.m., prior to the program.
Anyone interested in joining the guest speaker for dinner can call Joe Uvanni at (315) 337-3139 or David Kobernuss at 336-2808 on or before Monday, November 17.