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 The day began with the scheduled fly-in at 6:30 a.m. being
canceled. Heavy black clouds, thunder, lightning, and shorts bursts
of heavy rain showers were the black balls that Mother Nature hurled
that part of the day.
But from the middle of the day to early evening, the wheel went red,
and the festival goers were the big winners.
Under partial sunshine and fluffy popcorn clouds, the Chicago Kites
offered kiting demonstrations throughout the afternoon. The heat of
the day made the vendors with cold beverages popular. As evening
approached, gentle refreshing breezes made the evening lift-off a
wonderful sight to see.
The launch this year began a bit earlier than expected as by shortly
after 5 p.m. there were a groups of balloons taking to the skies,
and others on the ground working to inflate. It was later revealed
that because there was no fly-in earlier in the day, the pilots were
up to something special for the evening show, a soft landing
demonstration at the Logan County Airport.
One needs to understand the work that is involved in doing a
two-stage show for the thousands of people who came out on Saturday
evening.
 The winds on Saturday evening were coming out of the west so that
balloons launching drifted gently off to the east. Balloonists flew
to a good landing spot, dropped to the ground, deflated, and crews
packed up their balloons.
To participate in the second portion of the show, everyone in the
crew then drove west and well away from the other side of the
airport. They had to find a spot, roll out the balloon, set up their
gear, inflate and then the pilot flew the balloon back into the
grass landing strip at the airport.
Details of the adventure included that the crew had to get the
inflating equipment loaded back up in the chase vehicle, get
themselves packed inside the truck or van, and speed back to the
airport to beat the balloon there.
Once the crew arrived, they had to coordinate with the pilot where
the landing would occur and be in the proper position to catch the
lines the pilot would drop, and help bring the basket to a soft,
upright landing.
Each of the participating pilots and their crews appeared to execute
all this to perfection with every basket landing in the upright
position, much to the delight of spectators who for the most part
don’t ever get to see this part of a balloon flight.
With Mother Nature cooperating, for the time being, the visitors to
the airport were also permitted the opportunity to see this year’s
special shape balloon. The pirate ship piloted by pirate Jim Frazier
of Albuquerque, New Mexico, inflated and stood for quite some time
for the spectators to view and admire.
In all, the inflation, launch, and soft landing fly-in took up more
than two hours of the evening, with all the balloons deflating for a
half-hour rest period before the night glow scheduled to start at
7:35 p.m.
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However, Mother Nature was still 'spinning the wheel,' and this
time, she threw blacks. The white popcorn clouds of earlier in the
day turned dark and a bit ominous, with bolts of lightning charging
rapidly to the ground nearby. Winds shifted, coming in from the
south and the temperature dropped considerably, indicating that
something was a brew. Soon announcer Cameron Kurtz would come over
the loud speaker and tell guests to be aware a storm was moving in
with predictions of high wind and rain along with thunder and
lightning. He also shared that due to the late hour of the storm
passing, the balloonists would not plan for an evening glow.
The music in the beer garden area stopped, and several hundred
people left for the evening as was indicated by the long lines of
traffic working to leave the Logan County Airport.
However, not everyone left, far from it. Many folks did return to
vehicles or sought shelter in some of the tents and open
outbuildings at the airport, while others, braver ones for sure,
stayed put out in the open air and watched the storm approach…..and
then take a turn to the more easterly direction.
Later, Kurtz would come back on the loudspeaker and announce that
all the other activities on the Saturday night schedule would
proceed because the storm had passed by Lincoln without becoming
active.
On the schedule for the balance of the night was live music on the
main stage near the beer garden, carnival rides, and the petting
zoo, and the annual V.I.P. dinner served by John Guzzardo and his
staff of Guzzardo’s Restaurant in Lincoln.
The dinner this year lived up to the high expectations, as is true
whenever the name “Guzzardo” is mentioned. As the V.I.P. tent filled
with guests including pilots, crews, sponsors, and others, the food
was dished up, filling plates to heaping full. On the menu this year
was salad and bread, baby potatoes, green beans, penne pasta with a
rich red sauce, and in John Guzzardo’s words, “ham, roast beef or
both,” topped off with an optional rich brown gravy. Cold beverages
were offered, and there were cookies for dessert. Each guest to the
V.I.P. was also offered one complimentary drink from the beer garden
if they wished.
Later in the evening, Brushville, a very highly sought after country
band with local ties to Logan County, would perform as the finale’
for the 2016 Lincoln Balloon Festival.
Viewing the large number of people gathered around the balloons
Saturday evening, as well as what had to be thousands, sitting in
the green spectator space, the shoulder to shoulder people at the
live entertainment, and an airport filled to capacity with parked
vehicles, this was another great festival event in spite of Mother
Nature's influences.
[Nila Smith] |
