Posted: 11/28/06
Balloon rally this weekend
Air Bear, POW/
MIA balloons will
add special touch
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
The Bluff and Valley Balloon Rally will take place at the Houston County Airport this Saturday and Sunday, December 2 and 3.
The first lift-off is at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, with another lift-off at 2:30 p.m. A final lift-off takes place on Sunday at 7:30 a.m. All launches are weather-permitting.
The airport is located two miles south of Caledonia at the intersection of Highways 44 and 76. (An alternate launch site will be at Joe Hammellís field 3/4 miles east of Caledonia on Highway 3.)
It is held in conjunction with the Winter Wonderland parade, which will take place on Friday evening, December 1, at 7 p.m.
Many of the balloon gondolas will take part in the parade, pulled on trucks. The owners give frequent blasts of propane gas from the burners, which fill up the sky with yellow and blue flames and warm the crowd.
Seventeen balloonists will attend, organizer Randy Weibel estimated: two from South Dakota, one from Iowa, five from Wisconsin, and 9 from Minnesota. Sixteen of them have been here at least once, and probably 8-10 have come for 10 years, Weibel said.
Twelve have flown in Albuquerque at a national balloon rally that is held in the second week of October. That event has attracted up to 1,000 balloons. ìI think that bodes well that weíve really got some high quality pilots,î Weibel said.
Weather permitting, pilots at each lift-off will compete in a Hare and Hound Race in which one balloon takes off five minutes before the others. The pilot lands at his discretion and lays a target on the ground. The other balloons locate the target and drop beanbags on it. The idea is to get as close to the target as possible.
People who signed up ahead of time will be riding with the balloonists.
People are encouraged to come to the airport to watch the balloons take off. Volunteers are also welcome to help with the deflation and pack them up.
Pilots will vary their altitude from 200 to 2,000 feet. They land in vacant fields, preferably hay fields.
After landing, they have a ceremony in which they recite a poem and drink champagne. The champagne tradition dates back several centuries, as a way to thank the property owner.
The balloons will travel five to eight miles and be up in the air 45 minutes to an hour. They prefer winds of less than 10 knots, which is 12 miles an hour.
Weibel is happy with how things are shaping up. ìI think itís going excellent. The businesses have been very generous in the sponsorships. So the fundraising has been going well,î he said.
The balloon rally committee is still struggling with the lift-off site, Weibel added. It would be nice to have a more sheltered site, but when looking at all the criteria, airport has lots going for it. There is parking, plenty of room, and snow removal if necessary by the county. ìThe ground is nice and level out there and itís well manicured so itís easy on the ankles and things like that,î Weibel said.
ìIt just continues to fall together every year,î Weibel said. He praised both sponsors and pilots. ìItís just an excellent marriage, I guess,î he said.
Two special balloons
Something new this year will be a media flight on Friday afternoon. As many as six balloons will take newspaper, radio, and television reporters up.
Two unique balloons will be at this yearís rally. There is a POW/MIA one that is all black with the silhouetted face face similar to the POW/MIA flag.
There is also an Air Bear Balloon that looks like a teddy bearís head. It corporately sponsored by Bank of the West, which has an office in Caledonia.
The POW/MIA balloon will be the largest one at the rally. The balloon is 105,000 cubic feet, and the gondola holds four passengers plus the pilot. It is owned by Freedom Flight, Inc. a non-profit, educational organization committed to educating the public about missing Americans.
The group was founded in 1989 by Jim Tuorila and Bill Nohner, who felt that a hot-air balloon was the best medium for the organizationís message that American servicemen should be brought home.
There are over 78,000 American servicemen and women still unaccounted for from WWII, over 8,000 from the Korean War, and 1,973 from the Vietnam War.
Greg Theis, St. Cloud, will pilot the POW/MIA balloon.
Heís been here before with his own balloon, but he sold that this year and has volunteered to fly the POW one. He flew it in 2000 at the Albuquerque rally. Heís been involved with Freedom Flight for about 10 years.
Asked about the symbolism of the balloon, Theis quoted another pilot, Wayne Gustafson. ìItís not the balloon thatís hard to fly, itís the emblem on it.î
People tell stories that are hard to sit through because of issues they have gone through, Theis said. He feels he is doing a good thing, and he enjoys it. ìThe whole meaning behind it is very important,î he said.
The POW/MIA issue is more and more relevant with the complex wars the U.S. has been in lately, Theis said,
Contractors and soldiers are affected, and there is still a missing soldier from the first Persian Gulf War, he said.
Theis likes the Caledonia event. He said it is laid back, with not a lot of rules. ìItís just really a fun flight and thereís no heavy competition.î
Host families are great to stay with, Theis added. ìYou get to know the people in the town and stuff like that.î
In its 15th year
The event started about 15 years ago by three pilots from the area, Paul Brutlog, Allan McCormick, and Matt Wiederkehr. They wanted to do something the day after the Founderís Day parade.
There are two fundraisers to help the organizers pay for the event. One was a Silent Auction and Wine Tasting event at Four Seasons Community Center in Caledonia November 26.
The other fundraising event is a Silent Auction at the Rotary Supper from 4:30-6:45 p.m. on Friday, December 1, in the city auditorium basement before and after the parade.
The Balloon Rally group is part of the Caledonia Chamber of Commerce, but does its own fundraising. The committee was rebuilt after losing some people the last couple years. Call Weibel at 507-725-3344 for more information
Caledonia Argus
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E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com