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 With much disappointment, the pilots retreated from the airport,
as did several spectators who had gathered to see the competition.
The pilots determined they would hold off on making decisions for
the evening flight and glow until the 5:30 p.m. pilot meeting.
Mother Nature continued to put down a light rain that ranged from
what most would call ‘sprinkles’ to something close to a ‘shower’
until about mid-morning.
In the afternoon, the rain stopped completely, but the heavy cloud
cover continued into the evening. At the evening pilot meeting, it
was determined that though there were clouds, conditions were
otherwise good for a lift off and glow on Saturday night.
Public Announcer Cameron Kurtz may have become the most popular guy
at the Logan County Airport Saturday when at approximately 6 p.m. he
announced that there would be a launch and glow.
The wind was pushing the balloons in a north-easterly direction when
they lifted off, making for a beautiful sight for those who were on
hand to watch. And there were plenty of people on hand.
 Throughout the evening hours, folks came to the airport with great
expectation. Thousands gathered on the grass runway and surrounding
are to watch as the balloons inflated. Around the area spectators
dropped their blankets and lawn chairs in the midst of the balloons
and filled the green space to a capacity not seen before.
To those who have been attending the festival at the airport for the
last several years, the number of people appeared to be larger than
years past. While it will be a while before the Logan County
Alliance has the estimated attendance numbers figured out, anyone
you ask at the Alliance would surely tell you they were pleased with
the Saturday night attendance.
When the pilots were all in line on the west side of the grass
runway, the anticipated time had finally arrived. The balloons
referred to as envelopes were unloaded and laid out. The baskets
were put into position, and the large fans began filling the
envelopes first with cool air, then flame heated air to make them
stand up.
In the midst of this activity, several pilots and crews suddenly
loaded up their vehicles and left the airport. It left several
wondering what had happened until announcer Kurtz solved the
mystery.
Because there had been no fly-in Saturday morning, it was decided
that some of the pilots would go off-site to inflate and fly into
the airport. Kurtz announced that they would be coming in, flying
low over the target area they would have aimed for in the morning
completion. They would then regain altitude and fly on past the
airport.
Adding the fly-in to the launch brought a new aspect to the Saturday
night event, and kept spectators on their toes as they watched the
inflation of the balloons on the ground, but also kept one eye on
the sky, hoping to be the first on to spy a balloon coming in.
When the balloons on the ground were finally fully inflated, they
began one-by-one, floating away. In the baskets, pilots and
passengers waved at the mass of people below and were rewarded for
their efforts by loud cheers.
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 When many of the balloons had taken off from the airport, Darth Vader chose to
make his appearance. The pilot and crew held off on inflating Darth
purposefully. As the large mask took up as much space as two or three of the
other balloons, guests gathered around him watching in wonder as the gray and
black shape inflated.
When fully inflated, the balloon lifted off the ground a few feet and floated
only slightly above the crowd. Darth was tethered so he couldn’t escape and
remained floating just a few feet above the ground for several minutes until the
other balloons started returning from their evening flight and setting up for
the glow.
After the pilots had taken off from the airport, there was a lull in activity on
the grass runway. The break offered many the opportunity to check out the events
going on in the midway area and grab their favorite "fair food” to enjoy while
they waited for the balloons to return.
On Friday evening glow due to high winds there had been only a small number of
balloons participate, but the winds died down on Saturday and all the balloons
were invited to the glow.
Most accepted the invitation, and for the night show there was an impressive
number of balloons lined up to ‘glow’ and ‘flicker’ for the audience. At the
urging of Kurtz, balloons did "all glows
" "waves" and "flickers." There were also special glows for veteran pilots,
women pilots, and pilots from other states, as well as Illinois.
Much to the delight of everyone in attendance the glow this year also seemed to
last longer than it has past years,.
At approximately 8:30 p.m., Kurtz announced that the balloons would be coming
down at the discretion of the pilots. He encouraged the pilots to do what they
felt comfortable with either continue to glow or go ahead and turn out the
lights and say goodnight.
As the fun ended on the grass runway, there was still plenty to do on the
airport grounds. Live music and carnival rides continued throughout the evening,
food vendors were open and dolling out their wares, and a beer garden was
available for those of legal age.
The V.I.P. tent offered a fabulous meal catered by local restaurant owner John
Guzzardo, and the tent filled quickly with pilots, festival sponsors and special
guests who enjoyed a variety of pasta dishes, vegetables, bread, and the
Guzzardo’s signature, carved to order beef and ham.
With the festival being a stand-alone event this year, Saturday night marked the
end of the festivities. For the staff of the Logan County Alliance and the
Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce, Monday will be a day for a short sigh
of relief before starting the work of planning for next year. For the rest of us
it will be a day of remembering the fun we had, and marking our calendars so we
can start counting down the 362 days to the 30th Annual Balloon Festival.
[Nila Smith] |
